The Place Where We Belong
by jesphoenix05
Summary: Sequel to The Place where I belong. Hajime and Tokio explore their relationship and navigate the ups and downs of life amidst a vast space drama. Rated T for intense action in later chapters.
1. Starting Out

**The Place where we belong**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Stargate SG-1. Not making any money…you guys know the drill!

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**Chapter 1: Starting out**

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Tokio woke as Hajime got out of bed. She looked at the time and knew she had only been back from LA a few hours. It was still dark and she was feeling a little jetlagged but didn't want Hajime to leave without at least having breakfast with him. He would be gone until Saturday on a follow up visit with the Shevadia. She got up and jumped in the shower with him which cured her of the jetlag. Later, as Hajime put on his uniform she slipped on her blue and white robe and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast.

Hajime came out almost fully dressed and quickly downed his eggs and bacon. He was running late. He had meant to get to the base an hour early this morning so he could have some extra time to review the previous mission reports. Now he was barely going to make it to the pre-mission briefing. He wasn't complaining though because he'd rather be a few minutes late to work because he snuck in some alone time with Tokio than be early and have to wait 3 more days before he could see her again.

"You are gonna make it aren't you?" Tokio asked worriedly. She didn't want him to get in trouble after all. Hajime shrugged obviously unconcerned.

"Sure. I wasn't supposed to be there until 8 anyway," replied Hajime as he finished tucking in his shirt then pulled on his jacket. She looked at the clock on the mantle and realized he had a little less than twenty minutes to get to work.

"Don't worry. I have plenty of time," he insisted giving her his best roguish smirk and pulled her close to him to kiss her. Promising her to do something special together when he returned, he left. Tokio realized as soon as he was gone that she had no desire to go back to sleep or even to be at home. Hajime would be gone until Saturday and all her friends were at work.

"There's plenty to do in the lab. I'm pretty sure they won't mind if I come back to work early," she said to herself as she finished up her breakfast. She went into her bedroom and got dressed for work. It was early enough so if she hurried she would be there by 9am which was her normal work day start time…

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**-0-**

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There was a lot of laughing in Janet's living room later that same evening. Tokio had come over to her house straight after work and helped Janet cook dinner. Sam joined them a little later bringing a couple of bottles of wine with her. She helped Cassandra with her homework then played a game of chess with her while Janet and Tokio cooked. Dinner was over now and they had moved to the living room after dessert where Tokio showed them the pictures she had gotten in California. Janet and Sam sipped the dinner wine as they talked.

"You know I actually had a set of Wonder Woman Underoos when _I_ was kid!" Sam laughed as they passed around the picture of five-year old Hajime in his superman underwear and red cowboy boots. And they laughed as they imagined the look on Hajime's face when Tokio told him he had showed them the pictures Emi gave her. Sam promised not to tease him…at least not on the base! To be fair to Hajime, Tokio showed them the pictures Hajime had gotten from Nightraven and they all laughed at Tokio's crazy purple wig.

"I had a wig just like that!" guffawed Janet. She had used it on Halloween as part of an 80's rock star costume a few years ago.

"I can't believe you're friends with Tripp Campbell! I had a huge crush on him back in high school," Sam confessed still chuckling a little. Janet added she had always been a fan of Iron Weasel even before Tripp Campbell revived the band ten years ago.

"You know I think I have some old tapes," said Janet pensively. She started to get up but Tokio stopped her.

"Wait Janet, Tripp made me a CD with some of their new music. I'll go get if you guys want to hear it," Tokio added smiling.

"I want to hear it!" pipped up Cassandra from where she was sitting on the floor petting her dog as she looked at the photos. The girl was a sponge when it came to all things earth related. Art and music were her favorite subjects. Tokio was happy to see how well Cass was adjusting. It put her mind at ease to see how much love and attention she got from Janet, Sam and the rest of SG1.

Tokio went to her car and took the CD out then brought it back to Janet. As they listened Tokio finally told them why she came back early beginning with how she knew Prince Marco of Baharavia and the what happened between them on her last trip to Baharavia. She left out the part about how Lisa and Kelly had set her up to test her loyalties. She hadn't had a chance to discuss it with Hajime yet so she didn't want to bring it up until she'd had a chance to talk to Hajime about it.

"And Davila didn't freak out when you told him you were having dinner with a prince?" Sam asked surprised. Tokio shook her head.

"Why should he? He's the one living with her not Prince Marco!" Janet teased. Sam and Tokio laughed.

"No, he already knew about Marco and he agreed I really did need to clear the air with him and let him know I was no longer _available_," she explained. She added he had insisted that she go and talk to Marco because their many years of friendship should not be cast aside because of the actions of one overly pampered old lady.

"Besides, it wasn't fair that you had to deal with his crazy hag of a grandmother on your own. He definitely owed you an apology!" Janet began indignant "and before you say it wasn't his fault, I'm sure he knew very well what his grandmother was like and should've at least warned you," she lectured with a frown.

"Oh, I absolutely agree and it is the first thing he did after congratulating me. He said it was the reason he invited me to dinner. He wanted to do apologize face-to-face but just hadn't found had the chance," Tokio replied explaining he had already known when she arrived that she was getting married. He seemed genuinely happy for her which made saying goodbye a whole lot easier this time around.

"And to be honest I should have seen it coming too. I knew what that lady was like but I was so caught up in the magic…being there was like being in another world…" she began talking a little about the palace and the parties and all the adventures they had together every time she went there.

"Made it easy to forget didn't it? Nothing around to remind you of what you lost," Sam put in thoughtfully. She wasn't looking at Tokio though. She watched Cass on the ground with her dog. She bopped her head to the music, patted her dog and rifled through the pictures that she had spread out on the floor, separating the ones she liked best. She looked like a perfectly normal well-adjusted earth child.

"It wasn't the Prince you were in love with, right?" Janet asked catching on to Sam's train of thought. It caught Tokio by surprise. She hadn't thought of it like that before.

"Yes…I think you're right," she replied pensively. In Baharavia she had been physically and mentally removed from all the things that hurt her and made her isolated. So it became very easy to get attached to the prince and his country. She realized that Hajime and the SGC had forced her to face her past and truly let it go. Her choices now were not born out fear and loneliness as they had been then.

"Maybe I should send her a thank you card?" she concluded in a light tone. Sam and Janet laughed. It was getting late; Cass had to go to school tomorrow and they all had to go to work. So after Cass went to bed she said good bye and left Janet and Sam who were still working their way through the wine. Tokio had skipped it so she could drive home. When she arrived there was a message on her answering machine.

"_Hi Tokio! It's Lisa, Tori said you went home early, we were hoping to talk to you, can you please call us?_" the message said. It had Lisa's cellphone number attached but Tokio didn't bother to take it down as she already had it. She turned on her cellphone and realized she had several missed calls on it; all of them from Lisa and Kelly.

'More than likely they talked to Jesse and now they want to apologize,' thought Tokio. However, she felt that she needed to talk to Hajime first before she spoke to Lisa and Kelly again. She had been so tired last night that she hadn't said anything and this morning she had completely forgotten about it!

So she thought about it and decided to send a text message:

"_Hi Lisa! Got your message. Sorry, just got back from work and I'm really tired. Call you soon ok!"_

It wasn't a total lie. After all, she had not returned to her apartment after work. Besides, she was having too good of a day to ruin it by dealing with Hajime's guilt stricken friends. So she ignored Lisa's text reply a few minutes later and went to bed. She would stay a few extra hours at work tomorrow and find some way to avoid Lisa for one more day until Hajime returned.

'I'm not dealing with this until Hajime comes back,' she firmly told herself and put it out of her mind. She pondered the fact that though she was at home alone she didn't _feel_ alone. She smiled and as she pulled up the blankets, she grabbed Hajime's pillow and curled herself around it.

'It doesn't matter that he's gone right now because I know he's coming back,' she thought cheerfully and fell asleep almost right away…

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**-0-**

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Back home it was early Saturday morning - it is late afternoon in the Shevadia's homeworld. But instead of heading home to his Tokio, Hajime waited under the shadows of the forest where the Stargate stood with Martelli and a couple of young locals for the Stargate to open. Their stay had been extended to help the Shevadia solve a crisis. Abu and Nya were days away from having their first baby. None of the SGC doctors had been allowed to touch her because they were male. From what little they were able to glean from the women she was having a perfectly normal and healthy pregnancy. That wasn't the problem though. The first problem was in the form of a desert chief called Chimaka. Nya's original fiancée! The second was that Nya and Abu had been married for less than six months. Not really enough time to give birth to a full term baby.

Now back home this wouldn't have been a big deal. So Abu and Nya were messing around behind their parents' backs; they were not the first teenagers in the universe to do so nor would they be the last. However, to Nya's father Turghan and to Chimaka it was a deep offense. They were on their way to verify whether it was true that Nya was pregnant before she was released to marry Abu or not. If she had been, then Chimaka planned to start a war with Mughal. Turghan would have to choose which side he would fight with. At this point it looked like Chimaka would be the one he'd side with. Mughal though believed that this issue was just a pretext.

Mughal believed Chimaka was using the ancient laws and customs as a cover to start a war and steal his tribe's resources. They had the best horses and medicines and were a rather wealthy tribe without resorting to the usual sackings of tribes like Turghan's and their friendship with the SGC people had been steadily raising his reputation and creating allies among the smaller tribes. Mughal and his people were very savvy businessmen. Mughal, Abu and several of the village's women hustled around now because AC and Dr. Jackson had come back from the SGC with a plan to fool Chimaka. Mongols were an extremely superstitious people and with some high tech know-how and a little Vegas style showmanship they might be able to avert a war.

Hajime was all for trickery over bloodshed. Except in this case the trickery was conceived by none other than his Tokio! She had asked Mughal via Daniel to prepare their usual celebrations for when Turghan and Chimaka arrived then had Daniel and AC go off to do other secret preparations. Her trip with Night to Helmajistan had come to the general's attention. It was enough to convince him she could pull this off. Tokio had not arrived yet. She would be coming soon.

The wormhole opened and out of the stargate first came a locked large rolling trunk. Hajime and Martelli moved up quickly to take control of the trunk carrying Tokio's medical supplies and move it away from the gate. The next part required careful timing. He clicked his radio twice to let Tokio know that the gate was clear for her arrival. Hajime braced himself, they had assurances that the Shevadia would not attack Tokio if she arrived uncovered but there was a hitch in the plan. Turghan had sent two of his sons with Hajime to see who this mystic healer from beyond the Sea of Ogada was who could save his grandchild and prevent a war.

'The show starts now,' he said bracing himself. The two warriors had grumbled the whole way that they did not agree with how the women of the Shevadia were breaking their laws and complained about the women of SGC being given so much power. He exchanged a tense glance with Martelli and turned towards the gate. Sam Carter emerged from the gate she was wearing her usual green uniform with the armored vest and carrying her rifle but on her head was a motorcycle helmet with blue and green flames painted on them with a BMX face protector attached obscuring most of her face. The effect was shocking.

'So far so good,' he thought as Turghan's warriors took a step back and their hands reached for their swords. The spectacular opening of the gate had already put them on edge.

"The healer is a woman of peace. There will be no need for violence," Sam explained to the young men but her voice sounded deep and amplified. In fact, she sounded the same way _he_ sounded when he wore his storm trooper helmet! He hid a smirk catching on now what Tokio meant to do.

"Do not provoke her," Martelli whispered in a serious tone to the younger of the two. The men nodded nervously and took their hands away from their swords. These two still remembered how Carter had beaten their father. Hajime had already heard the tale told from the perspective of the Shevadia. In their version Carter became a powerful creature who could duck and weave faster than lightning and strike harder than a boulder. It was a fantastic tale!

Tokio finally emerged from the stargate wearing a voluminous plain gray robe. The hood was pulled low over her head casting a shadow that obscured most of her face. Her hands were hidden within the long wide sleeves of the robe. Turghan's sons forgot the warnings and pulled out their swords and lunged forward but before he could step in Tokio had a plan. She lifted her left arm and pointed it at the two men and a bright light flashed at them blinding them for a moment and making them drop their swords.

"Peace!" her voice rang out amplified in a similar manner as Carter's "I am not here to be your enemy" she intoned solemnly. He relaxed letting his tension go as Tokio handled the situation _brilliantly_. But as a taste of things to come this did not bode well, he would keep an eye on those two.

'If Nightraven could see her now!' he thought proudly. This was the kind of sleight of hand Night had taught Tokio because she disliked violence. He agreed it suited his Tokio well. Martelli reached the two young men to help them and pull them away from Tokio while Hajime walked over to Carter and Tokio. Her voluminous robe hid her hands again but as he got close to the two women he heard a little click and Tokio spoke softly to him.

"Has Nya gone into labor yet?" she asked her concern for the girl making her forget the two frightened boys. The fact she did not seem concerned by the attack bothered him. Still, he couldn't help but be amused by her cleverness. A soft click sounded from Carter and her voice became normal too (yet slightly muffled by the face protector) as she expressed her concern for Nya.

"No, but Mughal is getting tense," he replied trying not to sound amused at Tokio's cleverness. It was imperative that they all play along for the ruse to work which is why most of Tokio's plans were known only to Carter, Dr. Jackson and AC. The less they knew the more authentic their reactions would be. He found himself thinking of his actor friend Will and the advice he'd given him about how to make a believable performance.

"Let's hurry then!" interjected Carter. Nya was her friend and she was eager to get to her now and help her. She called through her radio for the rest of the equipment. Two ATVs rolled out of the stargate and Hajime allowed himself a smirk. They were sure to make quite an entrance with these! Sam and Hajime hitched up the trunk with the medical equipment to one of the vehicles as Martelli convinced the two local boys to take their horses and go on ahead because the bikes were sure to spook them. They didn't need too much convincing, still blinking hard from Tokio's little light show they climbed back onto their horses and rode away.

"See you guys back at the village!" Carter called out clicking back on her amplified voice. She jumped on her bike motioning for Martelli to jump on the vehicle with her and once he did they sped away.

"If Night could see you now he would be so proud of you!" he commented with a chuckle lightly trying to hide the apprehension he was feeling.

"Pfft! Are you kidding? He'd have a mile long list of things I did wrong!" she countered laughing as she climbed onto Hajime's ATV. He laughed but quickly stopped and reached up to his chest to hold her hand for a moment. He pressed her arm to his chest.

"Tokio, if things go wrong promise me you'll stay close to me…I'll protect you," he said solemnly. This trip promised to be nothing but constant stress for him. Tokio was not a soldier like Carter. In this brutal male dominated place a beautiful young woman like her would be in constant danger.

"I already made that promise. Now and forever I'll be at your side," she replied softly. He turned to her to see her golden smile and smiled back. He kissed her longer than he should have then started his ATV

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," Hajime said and headed back to Mughal's village…

Tokio got off Hajime's ATV quickly. He unhitched the little cart for her and pulled it in for her as she walked purposefully towards Mughal, his son Abu, Col. O'Neill and Col. Reynolds. Mughal and Abu smiled nervously at her and thanked her for coming as she curtsied greeting politely all the men present. They led her inside the tent and Abu's mother immediately came through a partition to greet her. Tokio pulled back the hood of her cloak and smiled at the woman.

"It has started! We cannot delay the child's arrival," the woman announced flustered.

"It's alright I prepared for this," Tokio replied in a soothing tone then turned to her cart. She removed her medical bag and the boxes with the equipment inside and asked the woman to help her carry them inside. She looked at Hajime and asked him to take the cart back outside. He frowned worriedly; her poor fiancée was going to be one very stressed out wolf during this trip.

"I'll be fine," she insisted with a reassuring smile. She nodded to Mughal and Abu and excused herself from the colonels then followed Mughal's wife. She found Nya in the middle of a contraction with Sam at her side. The contraction was mild though. Sam quickly introduced Nya to Tokio. The girl looked frightened and her immediate concern was the safety of her baby and her relatively new family.

"It's gonna be ok Nya…I'm here to help you," Tokio added reassuringly kneeling next to Nya opposite Sam.

"I think the contractions are still pretty far apart," Sam put in providing Tokio with the exact time this contraction had started.

"Good, we have time to set up then," she agreed as she began unpacking her equipment and giving instructions to the women around her…

Mughal frowned as Tokio disappeared with his wife.

"She looks very young," he commented the doubt on his face creeping into his voice.

"But Carter has great faith in her!" Abu insisted but he looked rather scared right now. Hajime reminded himself he was just a boy.

"Dr. Takagi has spent most of her life training for this. Her youth is an advantage Mughal, trust us," Col. Reynolds put in right away. Col. O'Neill stepped in talking about Tokio's experience in these situations and that they had nothing to worry about. And while Mughal was starting to look reassured none of it seemed to be reaching Abu. He stared at the partition looking desperate and afraid. Hajime pulled the young man aside.

"I know you feel helpless," Hajime began softly "but what she needs from you is faith and trust. Show Nya that you believe in her. You can do that right?" he added. Abu stared at Hajime the struggle inside him easy to see on his face but the confidence that Hajime exuded reached him.

"Yes…yes I can do that," he finally answered taking a deep breath and forcing himself to relax. He excused himself to continue the preparations for the big party later on to celebrate the arrival of his child.

'It's better if he keeps himself busy,' thought Hajime as he rejoined the other men in the room and they all followed Abu outside. They talked mostly about the preparations for the party and Mughal hoped they would be able to stay and celebrate with them. A long time passed, Abu disappeared after a while with Daniel and AC. Turghan and his people finally made their noisy arrival close to nightfall. Chimaka and his people were yet to be seen.

"Mughal! I will see my daughter now!" he demanded crossly without a greeting. Mughal frowned.

"The Healer is with her right now. The child comes too soon and it cannot be stopped," Mughal began reminding Turghan that men were not allowed in the birthing room.

"You have been allowing your women to run amok with their faces uncovered ignoring our most ancient laws and you would be a hypocrite now? I will see my daughter and…" but Turghan's angry rant was cut short by Carter. She came running out of the main tent calling Mughal. She pushed her way through the crowd towards Mughal and Turghan.

"Mughal! Tokio wants to see him! She wants you both there," Carter called out looking very tense.

"You…" Turghan sneered at Carter as she finally reached them. Every SGC man tensed and held on a little tighter to their weapons. Hajime noticed Col. O'Neill had already undone the safety on his rifle.

"_**Mughal, you insult me by bringing this one here!?**_" Turghan roared at him.

"She wants to meet you Turghan and show you that violence is not the answer," Carter interrupted again. "You need to come now!" she retorted angrily. Her concerns for Nya's well-being – coupled with her bad history with Turghan – making her abandon any attempts at diplomacy.

"You may have won your freedom but you do not have the right to order me around _woman_!" Turghan fired at her seething. Carter's hackles were raised instantly.

"She's going to save your grandchild's life and prevent a war! Isn't that more important?" she challenged back angrily. Turghan turned to Mughal with murder in his eyes and ignored Carter. Hajime sighed in frustration. Carter's defiant stance was not the right approach and he knew that it was only going to damage what Tokio, Daniel and AC were trying to do. Since none of them were here at the moment he decided to step in.

"Lord Turghan, a moment please," he spoke his tone authoritative as he stepped in between Carter and Turghan. He held up a hand in a gesture of peace.

"There is no need for quarrel here. I know Tokio and she would've only issued an invitation, one you had already demanded," Hajime countered trying to ease the tension. For effect he removed his rifle and handed it to Col. Reynolds as he introduced himself.

"Tokio is a gentle person and simply wishes you to witness how she will save your daughter and her child," Hajime insisted pouring every ounce of confidence he possessed into his voice and posture. Turghan looked Hajime up and down, and then satisfied that Hajime conformed to whatever standard for men was in his head he began to relax and opened his mouth to respond when one of his boys stepped in.

"Don't do it father! That woman is a witch! She blinded us with some evil spell!" accused one of the boys that had been at the Stargate with him and Martelli. Hajime was ready for him though.

"You attacked her without reason! She defended herself!" Hajime growled back at him glaring at him. Hajime grabbed the younger man by the front of his jacket, shook him roughly and pulled him to within a few inches of his face practically lifting him off the ground. He knew that a show of force from him would not be out of place in Turghan's way of thinking… besides it made him feel better.

"And you were lucky! If I had reached you first the damage would've been far more permanent!" Hajime growled at him then shoved him hard back at his brother who caught him before he fell. Turghan now rounded on his sons.

"Is this the truth?" he growled between gritted teeth. The two young men recoiled and couldn't find their voices for a minute as they looked from their frightening father to the now frightening foreign warrior and back.

"She melted out of the water! A grey formless mass with no face! It is no woman!" the boy insisted now finding enough courage to defend himself in the face of his intimidating father's rage. Hajime didn't know whether to laugh or punch him. The boy's account was just too ridiculous! Yet just this was the kind of "shock and awe" imagery Tokio was likely going for.

"That is a lie! I saw her with my own eyes!" roared Mughal suddenly before Hajime could say anything. He limped forward quickly and glared at Turghan.

"She covered her face as a sign of respect! She has since shown nothing but the deepest respect for our traditions and this is how we would respond! With lies!" he challenged shaking with rage. His defense surprised Hajime and it seemed to have an immediate effect on the crowd who had been gasping in horror at the boy's description of Tokio.

"Even Carter arrived with her face covered as a sign of respect!" Mughal added stabbing the ground with his walking stick in emphasis. Turghan rounded on his son and struck the boy in the face sending him and his brother crashing to the ground.

"Stupid boy! If it had been an evil spell you would still be blind now or worse you would be dead!" Turghan yelled at him "I will deal with you later" he growled angrily. He turned to face the others as Carter addressed him now.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound rude. I'm just worried about Nya as I'm sure you are," Carter put in soothingly. Turghan gave her the tiniest nod in acknowledgement of her apology and turned to Hajime. Haji almost sighed with relief.

"I will see this healer and my daughter," Turghan commanded more calmly. Hajime threw a threatening glare at the two young men (but mostly for show) and gestured politely for Turghan to go on ahead. Mughal led him to the main tent. He paused as Carter patted him in the back.

"Nice save Superman," she whispered with a teasing smirk on her face as she passed him. He heaved a sigh of annoyance and wondered how long it would be before Carter and Dr. Frasier would stop teasing him about that picture.

'Probably never! Well, at least they'll stop calling me Zuko,' he thought resignedly. He turned to take his rifle back from Col. Reynolds.

"Superman?" the colonel asked looking amused. Col. O'Neill and Teal'c watched him obviously wanting to be in on the joke. However, this gave him a chance to turn the teasing in his favor!

"You'll have to ask Tokio," he began solemnly then smirked just a little "I can't control what she tells her best friends about me," he added in an amused tone then hurried away hoping Tokio had sworn Sam and Janet to secrecy. The colonels laughed and Teal'c began asking questions about Superman but Hajime didn't stay to hear. He wanted to make sure his little act would help his Tokio with whatever ruse she was working on.

When he arrived at the main tent Mughal and Turghan were being greeted by Daniel and AC. They allowed Mughal and Turghan to enter but not Hajime. This part he would have to sit out. He gritted his teeth deciding to stand right outside the partition with Daniel and AC. He hoped that Tokio would not need him…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

"Good Evening Lord Turghan. I am glad to finally meet you," Tokio greeted with a smile in a soothing tone. Only Tokio, Abu and Mughal's wife were present at the moment. Turghan replied with barely a nod. He was busy looking around the room blinking hard against the bright lights Tokio had placed around the room. There was a 32 inch screen and a small laptop computer sitting next to Tokio. Next to that were the heart monitor screen and the portable ultrasound machine. They were all connected to the laptop. She had the walls and floor covered with a cream colored tarp concealing the cables that connected her devices.

Nya now lay on a large white mat. She groaned as the contractions became stronger and closer together. Tokio hoped that the lack of color and brightness of the flood lights had disoriented the men sufficiently for her next trick to work. The belt from the portable heart monitor was wrapped around Nya's waist and she had muted the volume of the speaker so the baby's heartbeat could not be heard right now.

"Father, thank you for coming," Nya groaned with a weak smile. Abu was sitting next to her stroking her head gently. Turghan now took a closer look at his daughter. She was covered from neck to ankle in a blue blanket that exposed her abdomen and her feet only. Tokio had placed a curtain in front of her face to shade her from the bright lights all around. He moved closer to where her face was and placed a hand on her forehead.

"Save your strength. You will need it soon, you are too small your child will not survive," Turghan replied with a tone that was a mix of anger and relief. Tokio turned quietly to her laptop and turned on the program that would link the larger screen to the ultrasound machine. She turned on the ultrasound machine and squeezing the ultrasound gel on Nya's stomach she placed the transducer on Nya's belly and moved it around until she had the baby centered properly on her screen. She tapped a few commands and the image appeared on the larger screen. The show was starting now!

"Perhaps it might be too soon to make such a dire pronouncement, milord" Tokio countered confidently and as Turghan turned again to look at Tokio he jumped back in surprise. Tokio turned on the volume on the baby's heart monitor. Her laptop synched the sound to the hidden speakers and the lights began to dim and brighten in time with the heart beats. Turghan, Mughal and Abu looked around in astonishment.

"How is that possible? How can she grow like that?" he exclaimed in shock. Tokio had called a friend who did special effects and asked him how she could fake a belly shrinking and growing. He had told her how to do it. The effect was low budget but he instructed her how to use other effects to cover up the trick especially if the subject was lying down. This is where Tokio added the last bit of flourish. Stealing some dialogue from her favorite book series "Lord of The Rings" she tapped commands on her laptop with one hand and the image on the screen began to grow as she chanted softly in Elvish.

Mughal and Turghan pulled away from Nya looking confused and surprised. Turghan gritted his teeth in a big show of machismo doing a bad job of pretending he was not afraid or shocked while Mughal looked around fascinated. They stared at Tokio's monitor and asked what that was that resembled a baby. Abu answered by explaining that healers beyond the Sea of Ogada could see inside the body with magical devices. They had done so with Mughal's leg. Tokio ignored them and concentrated on the screen while remembering the line she was chanting softly over and over. The effect was accented with Nya's groans as her contractions were now closer and closer together.

"It's our baby you see there," Abu added a smile of awe on his face. They watched in fascination as the little wiggling baby on the screen grew larger in time with Nya's own growth. The screen finally stopped enlarging and Tokio stopped chanting. The music and the lights went back to their highest brightness and stayed there. Taking a deep dramatic breath and affecting a pained and tired look, Tokio finally put down the transducer probe from the ultrasound machine and turned off her machines. She turned to the men in the room.

"Lord Mughal, Lord Turghan, I know how much you both wish to be here to support your children but now I must ask you to leave," Tokio announced in an elegant yet authoritative tone. Turghan and Mughal looked at each other for a moment then back at Nya. Nya moaned in pain and as if on cue came in Sam, Mughal's wife and several of the village women.

"I have seen enough," Turghan announced and pushed past the women. He stood at the entrance to the room then looked again at Tokio and looked around at the room pensively. He nodded to Tokio who bowed back at him.

"It was an honor to meet you Lord Turghan," added Tokio in a very regal tone. Turghan smirked just a little.

"Speak to me before you leave sorceress. I should like to know you better," he replied looking around the room pensively again with a little smile on his face.

"Of course Lord Turghan, in the meantime if you speak with a warrior by the name of Davila he would be able to tell you anything you need to know about me," Tokio replied diplomatically.

"I've met him already. I will speak to him too," he replied with a smirk and exited the room. Mughal doubled back for a moment and took Tokio's hand.

"Thank you!" he exclaimed then left after Turghan. It took some doing but Abu soon left the room as well. He did not want to leave but Nya insisted in having him wait outside with the other men. Tokio heaved a deep sigh of relief and smiled at the women in the room.

"Well done everyone!" she congratulated with a smile. There were giggles all around and a little applause. Tokio turned to Nya.

"Ok Nya, now it looks like it's time to welcome your baby," she added smiling at Nya who looked exhausted already but happy…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Turghan and Mughal left the tent with Hajime close at their heels Abu caught up with them not long afterwards though his mind was not at all in the conversation. He had heard Tokio say his name and wondered what Turghan would ask him about her.

"If Chimaka comes looking for trouble he will regret it!" declared Turghan proudly to all present.

'I couldn't agree more,' Hajime thought to himself as he gripped his rifle a little tighter. The Colonels joined them wanting to know where Daniel and AC had disappeared to. Hajime was sure they were off helping Tokio run the little magic act she'd pulled on Turghan and Mughal inside the tent. They had left without a word as soon as the men were both inside.

"Davila, walk with me," Turghan said to Hajime once they were outside. Hajime nodded to his superiors who kept their eyes on him as Turghan pulled Hajime away from Mughal and the others. They headed towards where his people had set up camp. Once they were out of earshot Turghan began speaking again.

"You must beware. Chimaka prefers deceit and thievery to open confrontation," Turghan began solemnly.

"Thank you for the warning," Hajime began diplomatically.

"The Sorceress is wise and powerful but she is also young and beautiful. And has excellent manners I might add," Turghan said a tad amused. He turned to Hajime and his smirk disappeared.

"A prize worth stealing," he added in an ominous tone. He signaled one of his men to bring his horse and checked his saddle and his bags while they spoke.

"Yes and you should pity the poor fool who thinks they will take her by force," agreed Hajime equally solemn.

"Carter was taken by force and sold quite easily," Turghan pointed out. Hajime was ready for this though.

"Carter is a warrior and like any warrior she can be taken by surprise when asleep. Sorcerers like Tokio have defenses that never sleep," Haji countered confidently.

"You mean like spells to ward off intruders?" Turghan asked.

"Exactly," Hajime replied solemnly. If Turghan believed Tokio had mystical powers half the battle was won. He could help Tokio with some high tech bobby traps that could move that myth along nicely. Turghan nodded solemnly and mounted his horse.

'That's if she and Carter haven't been working on that already,' Hajime thought. After all, he hadn't seen Daniel and AC much so he wondered what tricks they were up to. Turghan whistled towards his men and they all mounted their horses and cantered toward Turghan.

"I will ride ahead and meet with Chimaka. You should come with us. The sorceress said you would speak for her," Turghan invited but as he did he called for more horses. Hajime nodded, obviously refusing was not going to be an option.

"Sure, as long as I can bring some of my men with me," he agreed. Turghan agreed and told him where to meet him. Hajime ran back to his C.O. The colonels were not crazy about him leaving but agreed it was probably better if someone went ahead and helped introduce Tokio. And it was obvious that Turghan liked Hajime. They insisted he take Teal'c and Martelli with him. He ducked into the main tent hoping to speak to Tokio before leaving but all he could manage to get was a quick message relayed by one of the village women. Tokio was far too busy helping Nya deliver her baby.

"_I trust your judgme__nt_," was all Tokio had said. So without further delay he gathered his men and rode away to join Turghan's party…

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**-0-**

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Alright! First chapter up and I hope to update the rest soon! Fic reader I thank you for your assistance! I hope you get a chance to check this one out too! Thanks for reading and all your wonderful reviews!


	2. Finding Home

**The Place where we belong**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Stargate SG-1. Not making any money…you guys know the drill!

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**Chapter 2: Finding Home**

* * *

Col. Reynolds and Abrams borrowed horses from Mughal and caught up with Turghan and his party. Turghan had stopped outside of the camp to speak briefly with some of his allied clan leaders heading towards the party so the colonel caught up with them easily. Teal'c returned to Mughal's camp per Col. O'Neill's request so as to not send both heavy hitters away. Hajime was surprised by the strong endorsement Turghan gave Tokio to his allies. They rode through the plains in the direction of Chimaka's camp with Turghan pulling Hajime closer to him to talk to him. According to Turghan Chimaka had traveled from the desert to the border of Mughal's territory.

"Reaching them won't take long," Turghan announced as the horses leisurely strode through the plains by the light of torches. The low hills and grassy plains of Mughal's territory gave way to rock formations and arid terrain very quickly. Turghan surprised Hajime by asking him questions about him and his family history rather than Tokio like he expected. He was very surprised that Hajime grew up without a father. Hajime explained it was something both he and Tokio had in common.

"Though death took her father whereas mine never cared I existed until I was grown and could offer him glory and honor through my accomplishments," he added with a casual shrug.

"I see…he's a lazy princeling then? I've seen it, overly pampered and spoiled they are easily defeated," Turghan replied telling a tale of a clan he wiped out because the chieftain was a young man with too much money that he had not earned. He had absorbed all the small children and the women without much resistance.

"Your mother must be quite the warrior to raise a son like you on her own," Turghan noted pensively giving Hajime a longer look.

"That she is," he said with a chuckle. Turghan regaled them with more tales of his many raids and conquests through the lands as they rode leisurely towards Chimaka's camp. Hajime looked at his watch and from the time they left Mughal's village to the time they arrived at Chimaka's – even counting the brief detour to speak with the other clan leaders – it took less than two hours. Torches were lit all around the perimeter of the camp. A man dismounted a horse ahead of them and ran into the camp. Turghan stopped the party at the edge of the camp and dismounted instructing his men to stay with the horses. The colonel left Martelli and Abrams with them.

"Something feels wrong," said Abrams softly as they dismounted.

"I have a bad feeling about this," whispered Martelli to Hajime, eyeing the camp with deep suspicion, he was known to be a bit paranoid.

"Keep a sharp eye," Hajime said as he walked away with Turghan and the colonel.

Haji and the colonel exchanged a worried glance and continued to follow Turghan. A few men hustled about from one tent to the other. Hajime frowned as he looked around. There were no women in sight which was in keeping with the traditions of the people on this world. The women were restricted to their own tents. But their arrival went practically unnoticed, sure a few passersby would stare for a moment at the men of the SGC but quickly they would duck away into a tent. A young warrior invited them in the main tent. The inside was softly illuminated by a rustic hanging lantern. Chimaka was seated in the center of the tent alone. He invited Turghan and his companions to sit with him.

'Yea, it definitely feels like something is off…' Hajime thought as he took one more look around behind him before entering the tent after the colonel…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Tokio stretched the aching muscles of her back. It had been a very long day but thankfully things ended well. It was a bright full moon night and the tent was softly illuminated by the night sky. The party fire had died away and only the torches of the watch guards flickered now around the camp. The night was already mostly gone and from Sam's estimation it would be daylight in a couple of hours, the nights were short on this planet. Tokio and Sam would be headed for the gate at first light.

"Tired?" asked Carter coming into the tent the two women would share tonight. It was a rhetorical question, one look at each other's faces told the whole tale. They were both exhausted! The party had finally died down for the night but it was quite the celebration! It promised to be just as raucous tomorrow. Nya and Abu's first child was a girl and they decided to name her Carter as a symbol of their love and gratitude towards their good friend Sam. Abu looked like he was going to be an absolutely dotting father. The parents were happy and the baby – as far as Tokio could tell – should grow to be a strong and beautiful girl.

"You did great by the way! Mughal won't stop talking about it!" Carter enthused as they prepared themselves for bed. Tokio covered a yawn with the back of her hand. Several leaders from other tribes had arrived just as Hajime was leaving with Turghan. Tokio did a little show for them by using her ultrasound machine to examine Mughal's arthritic knee. The leaders had been extremely impressed and completely willing to believe Mughal's tale on how Tokio made his grandchild grow strong enough to be born. Added to that were a positive review from Turghan and the accounts from the young men who had seen Tokio arriving, it made her job that much easier.

"Thanks! I'm just glad that it worked. And it doesn't look like I'll have to use any of the other stuff the guys set up for me," Tokio replied tiredly.

"Yea, I think Daniel's a little disappointed that he won't get to do a Wizard of Oz act with you," Sam added with a chuckle. Tokio agreed and added that AC had made a similar comment to her during the party. They lay down on their sleeping bags and Tokio noted how Sam tucked away her hunting knife under her pillow.

"I don't know about that last guy though the one that was sent from Chimaka's camp…what was his name?" Tokio asked with a frown.

"Tirek…yea I know what you mean. I didn't like him either. Got a creepy vibe out of him," replied Sam solemnly. Chimaka, instead of coming personally, had sent his oldest son and a small group of his riders. They had missed Turghan only by about an hour. His son claimed that Chimaka was busy entertaining Turghan and his party, Tirek was sent in Chimaka's place. He was a good looking young guy who seemed to preen himself more than any man on this planet. He had seemed amicable enough to everyone but more than once had Tokio spotted him looking in Sam's direction with a cold angry glare. The last time Tokio caught him he looked very alarmed and quickly moved out of Tokio's sight.

"I just didn't like the way he was looking at you Sam," Tokio added with a frown.

"Don't worry about it," Sam replied yawning "we'll be gone in a couple of hours and the guys can deal with him," Sam added sleepily.

"Yea, you're right," Tokio agreed drowsily.

"Besides, you got Turghan in your camp! I don't know how you managed that! He's such a misogynistic jerk!" Sam added with a hearty laugh. There was no love lost between Turghan and Sam and Tokio doubted that the animosity between them would ever lessen.

"You know Sam, I think he wanted a way out but some way that wouldn't put him in a position of showing weakness," Tokio thought out loud. She thought perhaps that Turghan realized that it was all an illusion. But he accepted it because he didn't want to see his daughter and grandchild killed.

"Yea, I think so too…anyway we should try to get some sleep. General's gonna want a full report," Sam replied with a long yawn.

"Oh yea, wake me when its morning," Tokio responded with an equally long yawn.

"By the way, thanks for my little make out minute with Hajime earlier," she added with a light chuckle. Sam gave her a confused look at first, and then it dawned on her as she recalled how she had jetted away ahead of her at the gate this morning.

"I was in such a rush to see Nya that I totally forgot about you two!" She laughed. Tokio giggled along with her.

"Well you're welcome! Good night Tokio," she added chuckling and yawning at the same time.

"Good night Sam," Tokio replied smiling. She pulled her grey hood over her face thinking happy thoughts about Hajime. But as she was starting to drift off one of her alarms went off. She opened her eyes wide, adrenaline making her heart race. The light behind Sam in the back of the tent had been turned on which meant someone had stepped past the motion sensor outside. She kept her body very still trying to pretend she was asleep as she glanced around the room. Through the see-thru material of her grey hood she could see two men tiptoeing towards them. She could also see Sam pretending to be asleep as her hand inched towards the blade she had under her pillow.

Before they could use the ropes and gags they were carrying Tokio and Sam leapt into action! Sam kicked her guy in the knee. Tokio heard the crack and he went down screaming. The man reaching for Tokio got a face full of pepper spray and some on his hands as he tried to shield himself. He screamed in agony and tried to retreat but Tokio was on him. She grabbed him by the hair and shoved him back on the ground face down to tie his hands behind his back with his own rope. Sam got up at the same instant. She yanked her attacker towards her and pulled his head back. She put the knife blade under her attacker's throat.

"Who sent you?" Sam growled low and dangerous. The man clamped tight his teeth and said nothing.

"I know who sent them Sam…" Tokio said and pulled her attacker off the ground. He was making gagging noises and his face was already very red and swollen. Tokio figured he must've swallowed some of the pepper spray. She decided she better get him out of there before he hurled on her sleeping mat.

"Call Daniel and AC…tell them it's show time!" she added with a smirk. Sam smirked back as she forced her own attacker to get off the ground too.

"Daniel come in…" she began as they shoved their would-be kidnappers out of the tent…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Hajime half listened to the colonel and Turghan as they discussed the "miracle" Tokio had performed. He was very proud of how she had handled it but something told him that all was not well. Chimaka was amicable enough. He was a fairly good looking man about the same age, height and build as Turghan. But he looked nervous and somewhat distracted. He kept his hands tight on his rifle and a close eye on the guards by the entrance to the tent. He didn't like the way they kept glancing inside.

"Chimaka, your hospitality has gone down of late, we have been here for a while now and you have yet to offer us any refreshments and entertainment," Turghan finally pointed out in a tone that only appeared jovial. Hajime realized that Turghan suspected something too.

"Yes of course," Chimaka replied in a slightly startled tone. When Chimaka turned to order the guards outside the tent, Turghan grabbed Chimaka by the neck and putting his knife at his face he growled angrily.

"You cannot deceive me Chimaka! I demand you tell me what is happening!" Turghan threatened. Hajime's rifle was up and ready. He and the colonel subdued the two guards that had stormed into the tent at the first sign of trouble.

"This is a trap," Col. Reynolds growled at him with weapon drawn. Hajime was busy tying down the two guards but he noticed that Chimaka's expression was not that of a would-be captor. He groaned in pain and Hajime quickly realized he was injured and not by Turghan's sneak attack. He had been trying to hide it and that's probably why he hardly moved since they arrived.

"What's going on?" demanded the colonel again. Chimaka gave them a pleading look but wouldn't say anything. Turghan squeezed his throat.

"Please, he'll kill them," pleaded Chimaka.

"Who?" Turghan demanded. Hajime stood gun ready at the entrance of the tent watching for enemies and listening intently to the interrogation inside.

"The women…the children… Tirek will kill them if I don't keep you here until he gets back," he wheezed.

"We're leverage…"deduced Hajime suddenly.

"For what?" the colonel asked horrified. Chimaka's oldest son Tirek had been planning a coup for months. He saw his opportunity when Nya never came to marry his father. Chimaka thought that Mughal's new way was a good one. He hates the thought of putting his people through the mayhem and terror of war. That's why his methods for acquiring resources always veered away from outright violence. So Chimaka planned to ally himself with Mughal and follow in his footsteps. His daughters outnumber his sons 3 to one after all so Mughal's ways appealed to him.

"But Tirek has become greedy and violent. He thought I was taking his divine right to rule the clan away from him. I found out he had been sending false messages to you and other clan leaders from a trader that passed through Mughal's camp a few days ago," he explained to Turghan adding most of the younger men had been taken in by Tirek's promises of power and glory. The ones most loyal to Chimaka had been killed. Tirek launched his coup before Chimaka could confront him.

"The right to rule is earned through strength not inherited! Sneaking around telling lies and using children and women as a shield is the way of a coward!" Turghan growled angrily finally releasing Chimaka. But before he could respond they heard gunshots and shouting. Hajime and the colonel raced out calling Martelli and Abrams on the radio. Pandemonium had gripped the camp. Women carrying small children were racing out of one of the tents at the edge of the camp. Spotting Hajime and the colonel they ran in their direction. More shots rang out and Hajime was thrown into a melee battle trying to get civilians out of the way as the men from Chimaka's camp attacked them.

An archer was shooting arrows into the crowd and Hajime quickly shot him out of his perch. The colonel was going hand-to-hand with a huge man a few feet from Hajime. Hajime was shooting archers at the edge of the battle trying to cover a group of children running towards him. Haji turned to engage a man that was trying to sneak up behind him, whacked him in the face with the butt of his rifle and the guy was out cold. He took a quick look and found Chimaka limping his way towards him calling his people to him. A little boy handed him a sword and Chimaka quickly urged him to duck into the tent. Hajime saw another warrior coming around from the back of the tent trying to sneak up behind the chief so he took careful aim and fired one well-placed round at his face. Chimaka turned quickly just in time to see the man fall. He looked at Hajime and nodded a thank you before turning to his people.

"_**To me! To me my people of the Desert! Be free!**_" Chimaka called out. They responded immediately!

The women and the children all rallied to their chief and with Turghan's support the mutineers were quickly routed. Turghan ordered his boys to give chase to the few survivors and bring them to him. SG3 stayed behind to sort out what happened. Martelli came towards them looking very angry. He had a group of small frightened children trailing him. The children detached themselves from Martelli and joyfully ran towards Chimaka who embraced them with tears of joy. He told them they had seen a man sneaking away from the camp towards a cave not far from there.

"We thought it was suspicious so me and Abrams followed him," Martelli began trying to catch his breath. Chimaka had gathered his people and several young girls were pulling him into the tent. No doubt to take care of his injuries. They decided to follow.

"What did you find?" the colonel prompted once they were in the tent with Chimaka. Martelli continued their tale of finding a cave about 200 feet from the edge of camp. Outside they found the bodies of two dead women. To them it seemed they had been dead a couple of days at least. There were several small children in the cave with one woman.

"We found this girl gagged and tied up. She's hurt and she looks pregnant so me and Abrams took the two guards out and after she told us her story I double timed it back with the kids," Martelli continued saying the rocks in the cave interfered with the radio which is why they hadn't called for backup.

"An archer saw us and started shooting at me so I had to shoot him. That's when all hell broke loose," Martelli concluded.

"Aya and Katina…they are dead?" asked Chimaka in a soft stunned voice. The girl tending him began to cry and several more girls followed. The women held captive in the cave were Chimaka's wives. The children were his youngest and their ages ranged from 3 to 8. Tirek had turned against Chimaka and launched a coup with a sneak attack by kidnapping all his little brothers and sisters and capturing Chimaka's wives. His own mother was not among them because she had died at childbirth when Tirek was born.

"Yes, I'm sorry… the girl we rescued… Danaa said he planned to kill Turghan to start a war between his tribe and Chimaka's but needed to kidnap Capt. Carter so he could "make an example" out of her sir," Martelli added somberly. He added that by killing Carter in a very public and horrible way Tirek planned to show Turghan's allies that he was weak so they would turn against him. Danaa was made to believe Chimaka was dead and that's why Martelli had hurried back fearing for the colonel and Hajime's safety.

"I guess he thinks he's Genghis Khan or something and he's just gonna rule the world," Martelli put in with angry sarcasm. Hajime saw the anger building in Chimaka very quickly so Hajime stepped in before he exploded.

"Lord Chimaka, let me go and bring him back for you! I will bring Carter too and believe me there will be an example but he is the one who will be making it!" Hajime offered thinking quickly.

"I will go with him!" offered Turghan "I will show him who is weak!" he added angrily.

"And bring the doctor while you're at it captain. There are a lot of injured people here," Colonel Reynolds added solemnly wrapping a bandage around his arm where he had suffered a minor cut during his fight.

"And Mrs. Danaa is still up at the cave. Abrams needs help moving her," Martelli put in last.

"Very well, see that he returns here so his people can do justice on him," Chimaka agreed with teeth clenched in barely restrained anger. He got up gritting his teeth against the pain intent on going to help his surviving wife as Hajime nodded and hurried away with Turghan…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Tirek sat at the center of the camp under a flickering torchlight feeling pretty smug. As he listened to a few of the leaders who were still awake he figured that by now his men had already captured Carter and killed the sorceress. Killing the sorceress was an important point for Tirek's plans. Her presence and actions had upset his plans. Her powers frightened him deeply. The way she had turned all the clan leaders – including Turghan – in her favor could ruin his ambitions if she did not die quickly and quietly. But he was confident in his plans…too confident…

"_**Lord Tirek…you have made grave mistake,**_" boomed a deep and menacing voice in the gloom.

Everyone was silent as they looked around for the voice in the darkness. The torches all suddenly went out and green flames shot up from the empty fire pit in the center of the camp. Tokio stood behind the flames glaring at Tirek her mic was hidden skillfully in the folds of the hood from her voluminous grey robe. Sam came out from behind her and going around the fire she deposited two of Tirek's men in front of the fire where everyone could see them. She stepped to the side and watched Tirek with a smug smirk on her face. Daniel sat behind Sam with his arms tucked in a brown cloak with his head bowed and his face hidden under the hood. Teal'c came around the other side and dumped two more men next to them all the while glaring threateningly at Tirek.

"_**I know what you have done**_," Tokio began ominously pulling back the hood of her robe. The crowd gasped as they took in the sight of the red, swollen faces of the pepper sprayed men who moaned and continued to retch from the burning liquid. Tokio's pepper spray had subdued two more men waiting outside the tent for the first assailants guarding their getaway horses. These two men had spilled their guts both literally and figuratively. They explained in excruciating detail everything that their master Tirek planned to do and that it was he who was trying to stoke a war between the clans so he could swoop in and take over in the chaos. Sam's public humiliation and execution was important to turn those on the fence about Mughal's reforms against him.

"_**You send your minions to slither in the night and attack us in our sleep…did you really think I would be so easily taken? You are a coward and a fool!**_" Tokio continued her anger and disgust plain in her tone. Hajime and SG3 were walking into a trap which made her very angry. She didn't worry too much about Hajime; Aoshi had often said that his nii-sama's warrior skills were second only to his sensei and Nightraven. She knew Hajime would be just fine and he would take good care of his team. They were supposed to be captured as collateral to ensure Sam would cooperate once they had her. Tokio however, was a serious monkey wrench in his plans and she was supposed to die quickly and quietly. They were instructed to leave her body where Mughal's people could find her. The people from Mughal's village stirred awake quickly and gathered around as Tokio's voice boomed through the hidden speakers in the trees.

"I do not have to answer to you! You don't scare me with your tricks!" he replied trying – but failing miserably – to hide his nervousness. The leaders began to murmur their dissent. They looked in disapproval at Tirek. But Tokio was focused on her act so she paid them little attention. She was pissed off about Tirek wanting to hurt her best friend and worried about Hajime. She also knew that once Hajime figured out what was going on he would be worried sick about her and feel guilty for leaving her without his protection. It made her angry that he would cause her Hajime all this worry and wanted answers. She raised her arms and the flames shot up. The crowd gasped and took a couple of steps back.

"_**DO NOT TAKE ME FOR A CHEAP CONJURER! I WILL ASK YOU ONCE AND ONLY ONCE! WHERE IS MY HUSBAND?**_" her angry voice echoed through the valley. A loud boom and the sound of thunder followed it. A couple of girls screamed and ran for their tents; men cringed and reached for their swords as they looked up at the clear sky. Silence followed broken only by a few babies wailing somewhere in the camp as everyone seemed to hold their breath waiting for a frozen Tirek to answer the question…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Hajime and Turghan rode away pushing their horses beyond their limits. His heart constricted with worry. He had promised to protect Tokio and not only had he walked into a trap he left her in the jaws of vile predator. As fast as his horse was going he felt it wasn't fast enough. It took them a little over an hour to reach Mughal's village. As soon as the village was in sight he could see green light casting strange shadows on the trees. A deep ominous voice echoed from the center of the village and to Hajime's shock it sounded very familiar.

"The sorceress?" asked Turghan alarmed as the horses reared and halted in fright. Hajime nodded trying to calm his horse and feeling the pressure building inside give way to relief. Turghan gritted his teeth and urged his horse forward as a boom crashed through the land that sounded like lightning yet there was not a single cloud in the sky. Hajime hid a quick smirk in the gloom imagining Daniel and AC hidden in the trees playing some high tech trick on Tirek with hidden speakers and light effects. They burst into the circle gathered around the fire and Tokio turned to look at the sudden intruders. There was fierce look on her face that transformed to relief as soon as she saw him. She looked around and her relief changed to horror.

"They're all right. They're back with Chimaka," Hajime answering guessing that Tokio was thinking of the rest of his team as he jumped off his horse. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned away from him to look at a young man standing across from her. Hajime guessed that must be Tirek by the way the men around him seemed to be glaring at him. Turghan had already dismounted and was stomping in Tirek's direction.

"Tirek! You coward!" Turghan yelled at him as he pulled out his sword. He paused though as he noticed the four men on the ground. Whatever he was going to say fled him for a moment as he passed Carter and came around the other side of the fire from Tokio's right. He stared at the men on the ground one of them was unconscious. Hajime came around the left side after pausing for a moment to squeeze Tokio's hand in reassurance. He grimaced as he saw that three of the men's faces looked red and blistering. They wept pathetically, one of them heaving empty retches. Turghan looked questioningly at Hajime. Hajime shrugged casually.

"Told you so," he said breezily. Turghan frowned deeply and looked again at the unconscious one.

"What did you do to this one?" he said with concern towards Tokio.

"I took that one out!" pipped up Sam cheerfully.

"Of course you did," he said wrinkling his face in distaste but he relaxed a little figuring that he had likely just been hit on the head really hard and not killed by some horrible magic. Sam chuckled a little and winked at Tokio who smirked in amusement for just a moment before schooling her features back into the intense glare she'd been "working the room" with. Hajime walked back towards Col. O'Neill and explained to him and Teal'c the situation back at Chimaka's camp speaking softly. Turghan in the meantime had taken the stage telling the other warlords how Tirek had deceived everyone in a bid for power. The colonel was watching Daniel and Sam as he listened to Hajime and pulling him slowly back. Hajime looked back at Sam who gave the colonel the tiniest nod. Tokio had pulled her hood back over her head.

"**Lord Turghan, it seems you have the full measure of this man**," Tokio began and her voice boomed from everywhere around him. He kept a straight face and resisted the urge to search for AC who was likely handling the wireless sound system he had installed in the nearest trees.

"Go in peace sorceress, I will handle this from here," Turghan replied magnanimously. Tirek looked very frightened as he kept glancing between Tokio and Turghan not knowing which one to be more afraid of. He tried to step back as though attempting a getaway but Mughal and a couple of other leaders pushed him forward into the circle.

"**As you wish**," Tokio's voice boomed in response and the whole camp was plunged into darkness. Hajime heard a quick rustle of clothes and before his eyes could adjust to the pitch blackness of the moonless night the fire returned in its natural orange color. Daniel was bent down next to the fire stoking it and Tokio was gone.

'Oh Night would be so proud of her,' thought Hajime. Colonel O'Neill pulled him away from the gasping crowd whom were wondering where Tokio had gone. There was a look of surprise on Turghan's face for a moment as the fire came back on; Hajime relished it as he hurried away with the colonel and Teal'c. He could tell from Sam's smirk that she was loving it too. He heard a little familiar ghostly chuckle.

'You're here too old man?' he asked amused. It was the first time in a few weeks that the ghost of his ancestor Hajime Saito had spoken to him.

'_I'm always here_,' said the ghostly voice of his ancestor proudly as Haji hurried away with the colonel…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

One hour later Tokio was on the back of one of Mughal's horses glad that Night had taught her how to ride. Even though there was a barn in her old home; growing up there had never been any horses around. Hajime and AC were on horses as well helping Tokio with her medical equipment and supplies. Turghan had continued telling his allies about how Tirek had played them all in a bid for power while she packed. She checked up on Nya and Abu really quick. They were ok but Abu refused to leave Nya and their daughter so Mughal would be traveling. Now all the leaders were gathered preparing to head out to Chimaka's camp. Tirek and his men had been tied up and tossed onto the back of their horses.

"There's the colonel now," said AC as they heard a faint rumble. Teal'c and Col O'Neill had taken the ATVs and gone to the gate to update the general and let him know the girls were gonna be late. Once they switched the ATVs for horses and joined them the entire party rode out. This was not the leisurely ride Hajime had taken with Turghan the night before. The sun was almost up when they arrived and they were greeted by the men Turghan had left behind to chase the renegades.

They reported that the mutineers had tried to ambush them and they were forced to kill them. They did bring the bodies back to their father though for proof. Turghan gave them no more than a nod of approval but they seemed satisfied with that. Tokio followed Hajime closely. Seeing how tense he looked once they arrived she decided to carry most of the equipment herself so he could have his hands free to use his weapon if he needed to. AC and Daniel helped her carry the load and the three of them discussed very quickly how they would proceed with the triage. Hajime had given her a rundown of the injuries he knew of and top of the list for her was Chimaka's pregnant, injured wife.

"Greetings all," Chimaka greeted them tiredly limping towards her as she walked towards the main tent. Tokio put down the two cases she was carrying, pulled her hood off and curtsied greeting him in a polite and elegant manner.

"I understand your wife is in need of my services. May I see her now?" she asked in a very refined tone, it was polite but left no doubt that she would not take no for an answer. Chimaka smirked a little and glanced at Turghan remembering what his counterpart had said about Tokio's manners.

"Yes you may sorceress… my children will take you to her," he replied and gestured for two boys to help Tokio with her cases.

"Thank you," she replied graciously with a slight bow. She quickly picked up the heaviest box and handed her lighter medical bag to the smallest of the boys with a warm smile. He looked to be at most eight years old. She excused herself and left with a small troupe of boys and girls between eight and thirteen years old to where the women were treating the injured. Tokio didn't look back as the children took her to meet the chief's wife. Tirek would be facing the music know but Tokio cared not at all for his fate, especially after she met Chimaka's battered wife.

"Good morning Danaa, my name is Tokio. I'm here to help you," she said soothingly to the frightened young woman. She didn't look that any older than Nya. Abrams had given her an assessment on her way in. He had first aid training and moved among the injured helping where he could. She had left her first aid supplies with him so he could go on with the triage. Quickly she moved to unpack and examine the woman as she explained to Danaa who she was and how she hoped to help her and her baby…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Things did not look well for Tirek. He was tied to a post in the center of the village as the clan leaders gathered in a semi-circle in front of him. The sun was up now so the village was illuminated by the morning light but it was not yet too warm. Among the clan leaders was Danaa's older brother and the guy was on fire! He was demanding that Chimaka turn over Tirek to him. Chimaka did like the idea because it didn't appeal to him to kill his son and his people seemed unsure what they wanted.

Tirek had been well liked among them and his betrayal was a complete surprise to them all. They seemed to like the idea of having someone else deal with him. But there was the matter of Chimaka re-establishing his position among the tribes. Sending Tirek away would be a sign of weakness and would make his tribe vulnerable to attacks of opportunity; so no matter what Chimaka knew it was he who had to deal with Tirek and no one else. The elders argued; some thought that Chimaka was the one who should deal with Tirek and others considered that Danaa's brother and Aya and Katina's father should have a say in the matter. Those two men had not weighed in on the argument because they were looking in on their daughters' remains.

Daniel and AC were hard at work trying to mediate and keep the SGC out of it. Some had started arguing that Chimaka had lost his right to his clan and that the children and women should be handed over to Turghan or the people of the Sea of Ogada since they helped free Chimaka. Turghan and Mughal stood apart and said almost nothing. Turghan had the strongest tribe – militarily that is – but Mughal had the wealthiest tribe. And with their children married they were the "super-power" state. A little boy came into the group then and pulled his father down to whisper in his ear. Hajime watched the exchange with a sudden sense of foreboding as the look on Chimaka's face went from solemn to horrified. He rushed away with the boy leaving the others to debate Tirek's fate.

"_Follow him!_" ordered Hajime's ancestor suddenly. Haji rushed away after Chimaka. The old man usually said very little but when his ancestor chose to speak to him in a dangerous or unfamiliar situation he listened! When he arrived at the tent where Tokio was taking care of Danaa, Chimaka was yelling at her to get away from his wife. Hajime put himself between Tokio and Chimaka demanding to know what was wrong.

"I have to perform a C-Section, she's bleeding and the baby is in distress. He thinks I mean to kill her. He won't even let me explain," Tokio replied angrily. Hajime nodded slowly understanding now what had happened. Chimaka's son must've overheard Tokio explaining the procedure to Danaa and ran to tell his father a badly interpreted version.

"Your wife is not going to die and neither will your child, let her explain," Hajime insisted trying to be patient though it was hard because he was irked that Chimaka had been yelling at Tokio.

"She means to cut her open like a dying horse! I will not allow it!" Chimaka growled at him between clenched teeth. Rage making the veins on his neck throb as he came within inches of Hajime's face but Haji would not back down.

"She knows what she's doing! Stop being stubborn and listen for a moment," Hajime growled back.

"The sorceress has great power! Please husband! Please!" Danaa pleaded from where she was laid on a mat Tokio had set up for her. Tokio moved away from the two men to reassure the young woman who begged her to save her baby. She was trying to get up but Tokio was insisting she stay put and telling her that everything was going to be alright. Hajime could tell from her tone that Tokio meant to go ahead with the operation and Hajime was gonna have a fight in his hands if he didn't talk the man down.

"_Remind him you saved his life!_" advised the ghostly voice of his ancestor in his mind.

"Just a few hours ago we fought together, you trusted me when I shot that traitor and saved your life! Why won't you trust me now? Why won't you at least listen?" Hajime challenged back angrily. Whatever Chimaka was going to say fled him. He turned away from Hajime and said nothing for a few seconds, clenching and unclenching his fists. When he spoke again his voice was calm but Haji could hear the note of barely restrained anger in it.

"Our laws say if you save the life of a chief you are owed a life in return," Chimaka said calmly. Hajime nodded seeing now why his ancestor had sent him in this direction.

"If she dies…"

"She won't!" Hajime cut the chief off. He trusted Tokio and her abilities beyond a shadow of a doubt. It must've shown because Chimaka – grim-faced – said nothing more as he walked away. He turned to Tokio to reassure her but Sam Carter showed up then. Tokio had called her on the radio and asked her to perform as her nurse. So Tokio with a little smile of gratitiude asked him to leave.

"I'll take over from here. Can you help out Abrams outside?" she asked. It was obviously her way of keeping him close but he had a feeling – judging from her little amused smirk – that it was more for his benefit than hers. She understood his need to be near her now to keep his promise. He went to the next room as Tokio issued orders to begin the surgery. Stoically, Hajime helped Abrams – the team medic – with the first aid. Martelli was somewhere else in the camp entertaining the littlest children. This was not his area of expertise but he had always been good at following instructions and a lifetime of athleticism gave him some rudimentary knowledge in this area. It seemed like almost no time had passed when he heard the wailing of a baby.

"Wow, already?" asked Abrams. Haji checked his watch. It had been just under 30 minutes since he stepped out of the little room where Danaa was. He could hear Tokio issuing instructions to Carter on how to take care of the baby. It was obvious to him that her hands were otherwise occupied. The baby cried the whole way through Tokio's instructions and only stopped when Carter administered the last instruction of feeding the baby. He was amazed at how thorough Tokio's preparations had been.

Another ten or fifteen minutes passed with Hajime keeping half of his attention on the patients and half on the conversations Carter and Tokio were having. He gathered Danaa was still asleep and they wanted her to be awake and alert when Chimaka came to see her. He noticed the camp had suddenly gone silent. The noisy arguments outside had stopped and it put Hajime suddenly on alert. Abrams had noticed it too and frowned. Carter finally called out to him then that he should go get Chimaka and tell him he has a son. He hurried away and found that Chimaka and the other chiefs were staring in the direction of the tent…waiting.

"Lord Chimaka!" Hajime called out as he hurried towards the group. Chimaka pushed to the head of the group and waited for Hajime with the look of a man expecting the worst kind of news.

"Congratulations, your son is born. Your wife would like you to go meet him now," Hajime announced proudly. Danaa's brother standing next to Chimaka added an excited/nervous laugh to the breath of relief they both exhaled. Chimaka and Danaa's brother – Scorpan – hurried after Hajime. The rest of the leaders followed chattering on about the incredible talents of the people of the Sea of Ogada. As they made remarks on the powers of the healer none noticed the two men who stayed behind and now advanced on the tied up figure of Tirek…death in their eyes…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

"And while we were in the tent the fathers of the two dead women disemboweled Tirek," Col. Reynolds concluded in the debriefing room at Stargate Command. It had been only a few hours since SG1 and SG3 had been back but it was Friday and they had returned in time for a 1700 hour debriefing with General Hammond. Col. O'Neill sat at the right of the general with Dr. Jackson and Dr. Slater next to him listening as Reynolds – sitting on the general's left with Hajime and Sam next to him – delivered the report. The colonel continued his story saying that since the two men took away Chimaka and his people's sacred rite of justice they would agree to whatever ransom Chimaka demanded.

"In the interest of peace between the tribes Chimaka forgave them the ransom in lieu of friendship and good trade relations," the colonel added. He explained that two of Turghan's youngest sons had requested to stay with Chimaka and bolster his tribe. Tirek's revolt had left him with a lot of children under the age of 13 – some orphaned – and the adult population was mostly women. Through the rest of the week similar requests were made from Mughal's tribe as well.

"But they were boys no older than Abu – between 15 and 17 years old…boys itching to make their own way in the world without their fathers or big brothers holding them back. Chimaka offered them that," the colonel explained. The colonel felt the new alliances would strengthen Chimaka's tribe as well as make Mughal and Turghan a politically stabilizing force on that world. General Hammond nodded solemnly and asked how the SGC stood with the tribes.

"We were able to stay neutral for the most part and Dr. Slater and I were able to mediate the new peace and trade agreements between the tribes," answered Dr. Jackson.

"I was surprise by how quickly they seemed to agree considering how scared they were of Dr. Takagi but in hindsight that might've helped a little," Slater added solemnly.

"From your report Dr. Slater you three put on quite the show," Gen. Hammond drawled mildly amused. Daniel chuckled a little but AC shook his head.

"It wasn't the show that scared them. It was how she helped Danaa. They'd never seen anyone walk away from being cut open the way she was. After all, look at how Tirek was executed," AC clarified. The chiefs were all very impressed with Tokio but they still expected Danaa to drop dead a day or two afterward. But as the days passed and Danaa got stronger and healthier they became nervous. She wasn't Tokio's only "miracle" either. One of Chimaka's children had been shot with an arrow in the knee and infection had started to set in by the time Tokio was finished with Danaa. Injured had refused to let Abrams touch them. Tokio repaired the girl's knee and cured the infection using local flora.

"It was when they realized she was teaching kids how to use the local healing herbs more effectively that some of them started getting really nervous," Daniel added. Col. O'Neill chuckled.

"Yea, the idea of a bunch of mini-docs running around shooting green fire from their fingers didn't really appeal to them much," he added with his usual sarcasm. The general shook his head in mild amusement.

"She didn't give them any of our technology, though she did use the vaccines she brought along. It was just a lot of clever, common sense things _they_ had never thought of before," Hajime finally interceded. The days that followed were stressful for Hajime. The SG guys pulled in tight around Tokio and Sam but there would still be a couple of idiots who tried to get past them every night.

"We convinced them then of the benefit of letting Dr. Takagi teach them a few basics. Mughal was all for it though Turghan took some convincing but once _he_ was convinced the others followed suit," Hajime concluded. That had been quite the verbal tap dance to use their own laws and customs to get them to go along with their ideas. Tokio ended up having to visit a few other villages including Turghan's to teach some of the youngsters there though only the women would talk to her at Turghan's village. Turghan's people were stricter than others when it came to the segregation of men and women.

"But if anything this adventure has taught us that sending Capt. Carter to that planet is dangerous for the stability of that world," Daniel concluded giving Sam an apologetic look.

"As much as I hate it I have to agree," she sighed "Tirek was going to use me on a bid for power. We stopped _him_ but what about the next guy?" she agreed looking none too happy about it.

"And Dr. Takagi may have charmed Turghan and most of the chiefs but that could be just as dangerous. Where Capt. Carter is seen as a dangerous opponent; Dr. Takagi is seen as valuable prize," Hajime added solemnly. Reciting exactly how Turghan had described Tokio. Sam gave Hajime a nod of approval on his choice of words then continued.

"I recommend no females set foot on that planet again sir. Myself and Dr. Takagi especially," she concluded with a heavy sigh. Hajime almost breathed a sigh of relief. This was exactly what he was hoping Sam would say and he was certain that the general would agree. The general looked down at his report with a thoughtful frown.

"Dr. Takagi has requested permission for a follow-up visit in two months. I am still inclined to allow it," Gen. Hammond stated calmly. Hajime's jaw tightened but he kept his expression neutral. Tokio's record was working against them. Nightraven had been too thorough in Tokio's training. The general continued explaining the medical staff had already made a good argument and presented a solid plan with very convincing security measures.

"I will authorize the doctor's return this one time with teams 3, 8 and 10. After that I am reinstituting the "no females" order for any other trips there," he concluded ending the meeting. All the officers rose to their feet at attention as the general dismissed everyone and returned to his office. Hajime left with the rest of his fellow but a feeling of foreboding was creeping up inside him. Tokio had saved the day and true that Sam had made ripples in the Shevadia's fight for equality but it was really Tokio's more subtle approach that would likely have the most impact.

'Can't shake the feeling something bad will happen though,' Hajime thought as he returned to SG3's ready room. The colonel congratulated everyone and sent everyone home for the weekend.

'_I don't sense any danger in her returning there_,' said Old Saito calmly as Hajime made his way out. Hajime acknowledged his ancestor but still couldn't shake a tiny feeling of foreboding.

'I'm grateful the general will send me along with her. I wonder if she requested it that way,' he thought back. He felt his ancestor's slight chuckle.

'_Of course she did! She yelled it at the top of her lungs at the Shevadia! Your leader got the message loud and clear!_' replied Old Hajime as he laughed. Hajime smirked for a second. He had to admit that was pretty special! And the look on Turghan's face was priceless!

As he got into his car he finally allowed himself to relax. He turned on his phone and he found several messages waiting for him. He ignored for now the messages from Lisa and Kelly. Tori and Jesse had called him last Tuesday and told him everything that happened at the summit. They had been very upset at Lisa and Kelly but he managed to calm them down. He felt that really was more his fault than the girls and it fell to him to fix it. But he would deal with that later right now he just wanted to get home. There was one message from Tokio asking him to stop at the store and get a few things she had forgotten to pick up for dinner.

Tokio had the stereo on playing one of her Led Zeppelin disks as Hajime arrived. She was quite the connoisseur of classic rock. He had never seen a more comprehensive collection than the one she possessed. Jagged Metal and Iron Weasel aside she had almost every Led Zeppelin, some Lynyrd Skynard, Guns N' Roses, and ACDC, Rolling Stones, every Michael Jackson disc and Queen among others, many of which he had never even heard of. Some discs Aoshi had replaced for her since they were stolen when her home was broken into a few months ago but most of her collection had been in storage so it was safe. Her father had been a fan of Jagged Metal but that was as far as he went with rock and roll and her mom didn't get past that band either. Carmen preferred jazz in its many varieties. According to Tokio it was because she loved to dance!

However, Carmen had encouraged Tokio's love of rock buying her cassettes and vinyl records at every opportunity. He suspected it was mostly to annoy Takako who despised the genre. Tokio had been forced to burn all the records and cassettes her mother gave her but Nightraven and her friends had helped her rebuild and expand her collection. He placed the bags with the groceries on the counter and pulled Tokio to him to kiss her. Zeppelin's Misty Mountain Hop played in the background as he stood in the kitchen with Tokio wrapped tight in his arms… he was happy to finally be home…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Ok, so I'm trying something a little different with my writing. I cut back to SGC without elaborating what happened after because seemed obvious from there. I wanted to get them back to earth so they could find their home. They still have to deal with learning to live together.

Thanks for reading and reviewing!


	3. Learning is hard

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Stargate SG-1. Not making any money…you guys know the drill!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Learning is hard…**

* * *

Hajime woke Saturday morning but immediately decided not to move. Tokio was still asleep curled up next to him with her head on his chest. He closed his eyes and relaxed. Their lovemaking had gone on late into the night and he was still tired from the 3 day mission that turned into a week and a half. He was just starting to drift off again when the doorbell rang jolting him awake. Tokio startled awake and her arm suddenly tightened around him.

"It's Saturday…who could it be?" she asked Hajime with a frown. She released him and he got up quickly grabbing a pair of jeans from a drawer and starting to pull them on. Tokio got up too, grabbed her favorite robe and pulled it on.

"I'll go check…wait here," he announced solemnly hurried out of the room. She nodded as he left the room and sat back down on the bed. She grabbed her phone and began to look through her messages wondering aloud if she forgot something…

"Hi Haji!" was the cheerful explosion Hajime was greeted with as he opened the door. Lisa and Kelly were standing at his door and he sighed with a mixture of amusement and annoyance as he hugged them and invited them in. He was not surprised to see them. They owed Tokio a face to face apology but had hoped he could get a little more alone time with her before the interruptions started.

"Sorry we're late! We had a conference call with Victoria and it ran a little long," Lisa began cheerfully.

"Believe me it wasn't long enough," grumbled Hajime slightly annoyed. The two women chuckled teasingly. Tokio called out from the room that she would be out in a few minutes.

"We tried to call but your phones went straight to voicemail," Kelly added an apologetic smile on her face. She explained they had agreed to come see Tokio this weekend to get measurements from Sam, Janet and Cassandra.

"Ok. Wait here while I go throw on a shirt," he said inviting them to sit. Lisa and Kelly made themselves comfortable at the sofa. He went back to the bedroom and found Tokio had gone into the shower already. He grabbed a t-shirt from his drawer and went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

"I totally forgot! Sam sent me a text asking if I was still coming over today! I think she kind of forgot too," called out Tokio rushing through her shower. They were supposed to get together for lunch then go to Janet's house for the measurements and to look at some materials. Tokio was supposed to make up her mind this weekend on what color she wanted her bridesmaids dresses. She wouldn't make a final decision without input from Sam and Janet.

"Don't worry too much it's just a little after ten you have plenty of time," Hajime called out asking her if she wanted some breakfast or at least a snack to hold her over until lunch.

"Really? Ten? They're super early then! No I'm alright. Would you take care of Lisa and Kelly while I finish here?" she asked finally.

"Yea," he sighed annoyed that his nice quiet morning with Tokio would end so abruptly. He pulled on his shirt as he left the bathroom with Tokio calling a thank you to him…

"Is anyone from Oniwaban with you guys?" Haji asked as he returned from the room and went into the kitchen to make himself some breakfast and offer his friends something to eat or drink while they waited. They declined the food but took some juice from him and moved to sit on the stools at the island between the kitchen and the living room area.

"Eric flew out with us," Lisa replied but her smile faltered. Lisa and Jesse's stepbrother had an on again off again relationship since high school that depended on whether they were sharing a zip code or not. He wondered aloud why the relationship was not on at the moment.

"Oniwabans aren't talking to us much these days," Kelly replied her tone slightly accusing. Hajime nodded calmly. He had expected this. Aoshi, Sano and Kenshin's devotion to Tokio would most likely bleed through to those most loyal to Aoshi.

"Even Tori seems annoyed with us all the time and we can't get her to tell us why," Lisa added annoyed. He took a moment to think how he wanted to approach his defense of Tokio without breaking his promise of protecting her privacy. From their tones though it seemed they were intending to defend their actions rather than apologize. They owed Tokio an apology and he would make damn sure she got one!

"I understand what you were trying to do for me but why did you feel the need to do it?" Hajime began with a tone of mild curiosity. Lisa launched herself immediately into her defense. She explained how Tokio and the Prince seemed so familiar with each other and how Tokio looked too much of a princess around him…too comfortable. It was so easy to misinterpret their attitude as something more than friends.

"So you assumed by just the way they looked and acted that Tokio was gonna run off with the Prince? That because she was familiar with him and he's rich and handsome she was just gonna mail me back the ring and take off with him?" he asked but this time he gave her his signature interrogation stare. Lisa faltered after all how many times had Jesse been forced to defend her intellect and her grades on account of how she looked. How many times had Tori and Jesse been accused of sleeping with the boss to get promotions just because they were friends with Hajime? How many times had people assumed that _she_ was sleeping with Hajime just because they were good friends and were comfortable around each other?

'Too many to count,' thought Lisa exchanging a chastised look with Kelly. She didn't have a problem with her shallow façade but Tori and Jesse especially hated being pegged that way. It was the reason they didn't work on the catalog anymore. Jesse's last modeling assignment had been for Lisa's new line and she did it only because Lisa had asked her.

"They were so familiar with each other though…so cozy," Kelly added though uncertainty plain to hear in her voice.

"I'm cozy with you Kelly…and you too Lisa. Has she ever jumped on either of you for it?" he asked casually as he pulled his cup of hot milk from the microwave, poured it over his oatmeal and stirred it. Lisa opened and closed her mouth. No, Tokio had not once begrudged them any moment that they pulled Haji aside to talk to him, dance with him or just hang out with him. Tori had even thrown it in their faces that Tokio asked Shuura for permission to date Hajime as she had been his last girlfriend.

"Tokio has known Prince Marco for half her life. Why should she act stiff or distant around him? They've been friends for years and have been through some pretty extraordinary situations together," he lectured as he continued to stir his oatmeal. He took a spoonful as he watched them mull over silently what he had just said.

"They were a couple very briefly but before you pat yourself on the back for guessing that…Tokio ended that romance by turning down the half million dollar diamond he used to propose to her last year," Hajime added and took another spoonful then explained that Tokio felt his lifestyle was not for her. He added that though she cared about him she didn't feel strongly enough about him to leave everything she had worked so hard for behind just for him.

"But…but…" Lisa stuttered shocked that anyone in their right would turn down the chance of being a bonafide princess! But the revelation was also a slap in the face for both women.

"All that drama went down well before she met me. She told me about him when we first started going out. The night after she met Yolanda in fact…By the way, did you know she's selling her house to live in mine even though hers is bigger?" he commented casually digging the nail a little deeper. Kelly cringed and Lisa frowned and looked away. Tokio had defended Hajime on their first date. They had all been so excited for Hajime that he had met someone so trustworthy who could be such a good influence on him. They had repaid Tokio's trust with a stab in the back.

'And worst of all…we came to defend it,' she thought finally understanding why everyone had been angry with them. Hajime had not paused for long.

"You know, 3 months ago you were lecturing me about not treating Tokio like all the other women I dated because she was better than they were. But then you went ahead and assumed she was gonna be a skank like all the others - including my ex - just because she was friendly with a good-looking rich guy. I really don't get that," he continued with a confused look on his face.

He continued to dig the nail in as he switched subjects slightly without letting them answer. He regaled them with tales of Tokio's adventures trekking the globe with Oniwaban. Most of the time she was coming in with Nightraven to pull Oniwaban people out of some jam or patch them up after a rough mission. Lisa and Kelly listened amazed and ashamed. Tokio had even traveled to Helmajistan to save Hiei and Aoshi. Lisa understood why Eric wasn't flirting with her right now. He had been one of the men who had gone there with his bosses on that mission.

"I know it's my fault that my opinion was not convincing enough but was Victoria's opinion not enough? Or my mother's? Didn't she even come to _your_ rescue Lisa when your grades were falling? Did she ever ask you for anything in return?" he continued in the same casual tone he'd been using since they arrived.

"No she didn't…you're right that was shameful of me," Lisa added contritely. In hindsight now she wondered how she could've brought herself to doubt Tokio. She had been wary of Hajime dating Tokio because he had the reputation of a heartbreaker and Tokio was a nice girl. She couldn't understand now why she had taken this horrible of a reversal.

"Of us you mean! You're right Haji! It was wrong what we did to her and we will apologize," Kelly added equally remorseful.

"Absolutely," Lisa agreed firmly. He nodded satisfied. He finished up his oatmeal quickly.

"Let me go check on her and see if she's done yet," he said putting his empty bowl in the sink and left them there to think on what he had shared with them and give them time to come up with an appropriate apology.

When he entered their bedroom Tokio was busy chatting on the phone with someone whom he quickly learned was Eric. She passed the phone to him after saying good bye to Eric. She left the room after giving him a quick peck in the cheek.

"_Hey wolf! How's it going?_" greeted Eric cheerfully. They chatted for a few minutes. Eric was in town doing a prep of the house. Aoshi was on his way with a client that needed to lay low for a few days while they dealt with an unsuccessful kidnapper that managed to elude his old security. He told Hajime that Tokio had suggested he come over to hang out with him. He was almost done with his work and the client would not be there until Monday. Aoshi had to make sure they weren't followed. Hajime agreed easily enough. With Tokio off doing wedding stuff he was left with nothing to do. He would have to go out to buy some "guy provisions" of which there were none in the house so they agreed to meet after noon. It should give him enough time to go shopping.

As he hung up the phone he could hear the women laughing.

'That was fast,' thought Hajime feeling uncertain about the speed of their reconciliation. He wasn't sure why this troubled him. He would have to ask Tokio later to find out how that happened so fast. He finished getting dressed and grabbed his keys and wallet from the dresser. He stopped at the dining table were the girls were sharing anecdotes from high school with Tokio. Tokio laughed as Kelly told how she had actually broken her wrist in a cheerleading practice during their junior year. Apparently, the tale had been far more embarrassing than the version she told the boys!

"Sounds like you're gonna need to get pizza, beer and chicken wings," Tokio replied amused after Hajime told her Eric would be coming by later. Kelly and Lisa laughed.

"Girls' day out means I get to eat junk food and hang out with the guys," he countered with a smirk. He kissed her and saying good bye to the girls he left…

Kelly and Lisa watched him leave with guilt still gnawing at them. The swagger in his steps letting them know how happy and secure he felt. Tokio had accepted their apology and dismissed the whole thing as a simple and completely justifiable misunderstanding. She had insisted that there was no harm done and she had discussed her private conversation with the Prince with Hajime as soon as she returned. She even mentioned her good friend Marco looked forward to meeting her fiancée one day. But when Lisa and Kelly tried to press for details on her evening with Marco she had quickly changed the subject.

"He's so happy these days," Kelly sighed.

"Yea, it is nice to see him back to his old self," Lisa added making sure to sound cheerful. She got the feeling that – in a tactful way – Tokio had shut them out. Sure she was making every effort to be friendly and get along with them but they had lost her trust. This was simply not acceptable as far as Lisa was concerned.

"I made him a promise," Tokio replied in a dreamy tone still looking at the door he had just locked behind him. Lisa and Kelly exchanged a guilt stricken look.

"Let me get my things and we can get going," she added cheerfully. She went back to her bedroom and came back with her purse and keys ready to go. She offered to drive. They went to a popular diner in town where Tokio's friends met them not long after they arrived. Tokio was a master at making people feel welcome but Lisa knew she was still on the outside. It was very subtle but there was definitely a wall between them and it broke her heart. Their beloved Hajime finally found what they had always wanted for him and she managed to spoil it with an unfounded insecurity and her own shallow tendencies.

'I will fix this!' she promised herself as she took her measurement notes and answered questions from Tokio's friends. Sunday night she was on her way to the airport with Kelly and Eric. Tokio and Hajime wanted to see them off and came to the airport. Lisa looked back at them and how happy Hajime looked burning the image into her mind. She smiled at them and waved goodbye as they boarded their flight.

'I will make it up to you both,' she promised herself as she settled in her seat to prepare for takeoff. She closed her eyes and made her plans. She would see that Tokio and Hajime had the most amazing wedding she could dream off no matter what it took…

* * *

**-000000-**

* * *

Emi exited the elevator and looked around. The clerk at the front desk had said this was the floor Agent Gibbs was on. The sky lights in the ceiling and the staircase that led to a door with the word: MTAC next to it were her clues to finding Agent Gibbs' desk. She headed purposefully down the hall glancing over the walls of the cubicles hoping to spot him and one of the agents on the desks pointed her to the correct group of cubicles. She arrived at a small square area with four desks. All the desks seemed to be facing towards the center of the area. To her dismay there was no one there.

"Can I help you?" said a gruff voice behind her startling Emi. The desks were mostly empty and it was so quiet she had expected to hear the footsteps of anyone approaching.

"Yes! Or at least I hope so!" Emi replied chuckling nervously. She quickly composed herself. This was after all a building full of federal agents not a tourist attraction! The scowling man in front of her was a quick reminder of that. His eyes bore into her with deepest distrust. It made her think of the look Hajime always gave people he didn't know who spoke to her. He called it "Threat assessment".

"My name is Emi Davila and I'm looking for Special Agent Gibbs," she added solemnly slipping into mom-mode. It was her automatic response to Hajime's over-protectiveness. She often had to remind him that his mother was perfectly capable of taking care of herself. But the man's attitude immediately changed. The scowl disappeared instantly and he smiled at her.

"You found him! Agent Gibbs ma'am at your service," he replied with a smile offering his hand. Emi shook his hand gladly and smiled back then followed him back to his desk and he pulled out a chair for her. It became immediately obvious that he knew who she was and had expected a visit from her or Victoria in regards to Hajime and Tokio's wedding. It had been about a month since he had seen them and he was eager for more good news.

"Yes, they have settled on a date but before we get to that I wanted to say thank you to you Agent Gibbs for what you did for my son all those years ago," she began solemnly.

"It was my pleasure Ms. Davila! I was happy to do it!" he replied with an amicable smile "it was very satisfying then and even more satisfying now," he added as he took his seat.

"Did he share all the details with you?" He asked her. She explained that Hajime had just let it slip during his last visit but refused to say much about it. He had insisted that it was no big deal.

"But he doesn't understand. It's a big deal to me," she insisted. Of course, Gibbs understood perfectly and was happy to give her a blow by blow account starting with Tokio overhearing Kamo and ending with the operation in the hotel in Spain. It terrified Emi to think how close she came to losing Hajime all those years ago.

"You have good friends," concluded Gibbs. She absolutely agreed! She was so proud of Tokio for her courage.

"In spite of all the things she was going through she put herself on the line for someone whose name she didn't even know! My boy is so lucky," Emi declared as she wiped away a little tear. It also made her very proud of Zack! Hajime had been right to put his faith in that lovable troublemaker for so long. She promised herself she would share with Zack's parents what their son had done as soon as she returned to California.

"That he is ma'am!" he agreed with a chuckle. He picked up his phone and called Abby's lab. She and McGee were working on something at the moment but he knew that McGee had been geeking out over Emi's book. He couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he met her. Ziva and DiNozzo arrived then and Gibbs introduced them.

"Oh McGee is going to geek out when he gets here," DiNozzo pointed out with a chuckle adding though that he had also enjoyed her book very much. Emi's book spent 6 weeks on the number one spot on the New York Times bestseller list. It was still on the top ten right now and several networks were negotiating rights for a TV series. Emi had refused any movie rights.

"Of course! I think I'm geeking out right now!" added Ziva. She told Emi she had read her book too.

"Janeway disguising herself as a man, fighting pirates and rescuing slaves! Wow! She was amazing. Thank you for writing the _truth_ about her!" the young woman added glowingly. McGee arrived then in a rush with Abby half a step behind him. He took Emi's hand and shook it firmly.

"Let me say what an honor it is to meet you! I have been waiting my whole life for a proper biography on Kate Janeway!" he gushed. Janeway's books had been one of his inspirations to become a writer himself. Abby shoved him aside and reached for Emi's hand.

"I read all of Janeway's books when I was a kid! She was so cool! I loved your book! Is it true that there's another book coming? One about her death?" gushed Abby next.

"Thank you all of you and yes there will be one more book about that and that is part of the reason I am here," she began smiling at each of them grateful for their lavish praise. Abby and McGee opened their mouths to ask the torrent of questions popping into their heads but Emi held up her hands to stop them.

"But before I get into that Victoria asked me to come because there is a small favor she would like to ask of you and your team Agent Gibbs," she continued more solemnly.

"Is it about Tokio's _caretakers_?" Gibbs asked and everyone was quiet. Gibbs had told them about how he and Ducky had first met Tokio. His team had helped him put together the file Hajime used on Tokio's uncle.

"Yes, there is a matter of some justice that Tokio is owed. Victoria thought you might be willing to help her out," Emi said looking at Agent Gibbs.

"Just tell us when and where," said Gibbs before she could continue. He looked around at his team.

"You bet boss," affirmed DiNozzo solemnly as agreements went all around the team. Emi smiled and explained Victoria's plan…

* * *

**-000000-**

* * *

Getting used to living with Hajime was harder than Tokio had first thought. Especially since she had spent half of her life alone! Hajime was very laid back at home while she was rather obsessive about the condition of her surroundings. For her everything had to be just right. For Hajime if it was clean and in the drawer than it didn't matter how it looked.

"It's just underwear who cares if it's wrinkled," he had said with a laugh but it irritated Tokio to no end. She didn't know whether to be flattered or annoyed when she realized the only reason he used to fold his laundry carefully before moving in with her was so he could spend more time at her place. He would get annoyed that she would spend several minutes stacking the spoons and forks by size and style carefully in the silverware drawer or sorting her t-shirts by color and style. The incident with the pre-nup had also taught Tokio that her fiancée was very good at getting his way. So finding a compromise that was comfortable for her to handle became inevitable.

So the weeks went by as they settled into their new life together. Hajime began seriously cracking the whip on his contractors so that his house could be ready for them to move in by mid-summer. Life for the most part was peaceful and happy at home…except once. A couple of months into their new living arrangement they had their first _big_ fight. It had actually happened on base and it had to do with a group of people SG1 rescued called the Tollans…

"Tokio, there are other ways of doing things! Don't do anything reckless!" Hajime admonished sternly. Col. Maybourne had come to the SGC and stirred up a hornet's nest when he announced that the Tollans would be taken away to a high security facility to "convince" them to create advanced technology for them. It had SG1 up in arms and most everyone on base was on their side. Even though at first they had tried to convince them to stay the general feeling was that they needed to get the Tollans off Earth.

Daniel Jackson had expressed everyone's feelings rather loudly but nothing could be done. The orders had been given from the highest levels and anyone opposing them would be tried for treason. For Tokio it seemed to have touched a very raw nerve. She had even gone to the extreme of talking back to Col. Maybourne! Janet ordered her out of the infirmary because Tokio looked an inch away from adding "Assault on a senior officer" to the charge of insubordination that Maybourne had already tagged on her.

Once Tokio was out of the infirmary Janet had called Hajime and asked him to talk to Tokio. So he had followed her to the top level and found her pacing outside so focused on whatever she was planning to try and save the Tollans that she hardly noticed him at first. He tried to reason with her to be patient but she was having none of it! He could tell that SG1 – or more specifically Dr. Jackson – was up to something but with the guards out on the yard within earshot he didn't dare say anything. So he opted for a more conservative suggestion.

"You want me to lodge a complaint? He's violating his own oaths – not to mention several human rights laws – and ordering me to drug a group of people whose only crime is being smarter than us and I'm supposed to just write a _letter_ about it?" she snarled back at him angrily.

"Yes…for now," he replied patiently. He couldn't for the life of him figure out why she was so worked up about this. The situation with the Tollans wasn't nearly as awful as the whole business with Cassandra had been. The Tollans had already demonstrated that they were very well capable of taking care of themselves.

'For crying out loud they can walk through walls! Why doesn't she realize this?' he thought. Col. Maybourne could try but it was clear to everyone that he wasn't going to be able to keep the Tollans against their will. He surmised – as did Carter and most of the scientists on base – that the high tech armbands they wore gave them the ability among other things to phase through solid matter. Besides, SG1 had been vociferous against Maybourne and now they suddenly had gone quiet. They – or more like Daniel Jackson and Teal'c – were up to something and were being patient then… why wasn't she doing the same? Why couldn't she see it?

'Where is all this rage really coming from?' he thought desperately as she gave him a look that he swore from that day on he never wanted to see again. Her face was frozen in a look of shock and betrayal. She stared at him as if he had suddenly turned against her and thrown away every promise he'd ever made to her…as if he were no better than her old tormentors. But if that was awful what followed was far worse. After a few moments all emotion drained away from her face. She smiled.

"You're right Hajime! That's exactly what I should do!" she replied cheerfully. To those who did not know Tokio she sounded like she'd finally listened to reason and would take a sensible action.

But as he looked into her eyes he realized that he had finally met Tokio's ultimate defense: the Tenken. Despite the warm sunset he felt cold down to his bones. He followed her quickly into the elevator. She pushed the button and Hajime didn't bother to look at which floor she had pushed. He could very well guess. She turned to him still smiling that horrible cold smile at him.

"Tokio, there are other ways," he said in his most intense voice as the elevator doors closed. Try as he might though he could not snap Tokio out of the trance she seemed to be in. They reached the lowest level of the mountain compound and as they both exited the elevator the gate alarm began blasting through the speaker system:

"_**Unscheduled off-world activation"**_

He looked at Tokio and breathed a sigh of relief as the horrid cold smile disappeared. He saw confusion then surprise mingled with horror on her face replacing it. He couldn't stay though to find out what had brought clarity back into his fiancé's mind. He had a job to do first. He cupped her face in his hands and risked a quick kiss that she did not resist in the empty corridor. Then after promising to talk later dashed away to the gate room.

When he arrived the Tollans were all assembled there with Dr. Jackson and Teal'c. Col. Maybourne was bellowing over the loudspeakers that he was going to court-martial Dr. Jackson. It was all he could do to keep a straight face as Dr. Jackson mocked Maybourne by pretending not to hear him. He doubted very much though that they would be able to stop a group of people who could walk through concrete and titanium like it wasn't there.

'I don't even want to think what they could do to _us_ with their little "walk through walls" trick!' thought Hajime unhappily. They could end up shooting themselves rather than the Tollans. He wondered again how a fantastically moronic guy like Maybourne had managed to climbed the ranks to colonel!

"They could rip our hearts out "Temple of Doom" style if we shoot them," grumbled Martelli in a low angry whisper shooting a glare up at the control center from which Maybourne was shouting. It brought a wry smirk to Hajime and a groan from Abrams. He surreptitiously glanced around at the other soldiers in the room and realized - from the uncomfortable or annoyed glances they were giving each other - that they were all thinking along the same lines as he and Martelli.

From the gate stepped out a diminutive young woman with a gentle face and a great deal of wisdom in her eyes. Hajime concluded that she must be one of the Nox. The only friendly super advanced race that earth knew about. The event horizon disappeared behind her and she frowned and shook her head in disapproval as she took in the sight of all the armed soldiers. Dr. Jackson raced up the ramp to greet the Nox lady he addressed as Lya.

"Your race has learned nothing," Lya said in a chastising tone. Hajime vowed to remember the sting of shame from her words because he promised himself that he would see Maybourne paid for it one day!

She waved her hand at the Stargate and the event horizon reappeared then turned back to the Tollans. She solemnly invited them to come to their world and offered them sanctuary. The Tollans looked around at the soldiers with mild curiosity wondering perhaps how they should deal with them. Nareem – the man that had taken a romantic interest in Capt. Carter – looked up at the control room where Sam stood watching him go with sadness on her face. Hajime understood the look of longing on his face. They would probably never see each other again.

"Come," she intoned solemnly once more opening her arms in a gesture of welcome. The Tollans turned away from the soldiers and as they walked up the ramp they vanished. Hajime let out a small sigh of relief.

"Cool," said Martelli softly. Abrams chuckled a little as Maybourne bellowed at them to open fire. But he hadn't finished bellowing the order when their rifles vanished from their hands! Hajime blinked in surprise and reflexively closed and opened his hands. Martelli looked around the floor.

"Very cool," he added with a slight chuckle and Hajime wholeheartedly agreed. This had ended easily and painlessly. He would be forever grateful to the tiny lady speaking to Dr. Jackson. She waved an arm and the wormhole reappeared she stepped through it unchallenged. Though Col. Maybourne continued to bellow threats no one moved to chase her through it…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Tokio stood still watching Hajime hurry away to answer the call of the general alarm. But as he disappeared around a corner she began to run too. The alarm had been the one to snap her out of demon mode. She thought that perhaps the Tollans must've figured out – with their superior intellect and technology – how to contact their own people for a rescue.

'They probably figured out Col. Maybourne's plan to drug and kidnap them,' she thought. By the time she arrived at the control room Gen. Hammond only half of SG1 was there. Dr. Jackson and Teal'c were down in the gate room. Col. Maybourne was bellowing through the microphones to stop the Tollans. The gate room was flooded with soldiers carrying rifles pointing them at the Tollans. She couldn't see Hajime from where she was standing in the back of the room but she was certain he was somewhere down there.

There was a young woman with a gentle face standing at the top of the gate ramp talking to Dr. Jackson. She looked up at the control room and shook her head in disapproval. Tokio felt embarrassed then by Col. Maybourne's incessant hollering. The woman opened her arms in a gesture of welcome to the Tollans and as they started up the ramp they vanished! Tokio gasped in surprise as a second later the weapons on the SGC soldiers vanished as well. She realized now who the tiny woman in the soft gossamer dress with the wise and gentle face must be.

'She's a Nox! Perfect!' she thought relieved. She paid no more attention to the blustering colonel as she watched the woman speak to Daniel one more time then she waved her arm to make the wormhole reappear and disappeared into it. No one moved to follow her…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Maybourne blustered about court martialing people for letting them escape. However, Hajime knew he had no grounds to do so and General Hammond let Maybourne know that right away. The video taken by the surveillance cameras in the gate room gave very clear evidence in their defense.

'Every one of my men had obeyed that buffoon's orders. He doesn't have a leg to stand on,' Hajime thought as he headed back to SG3's ready room. Even SG1 had stepped aside and let him do what he wanted. He had no jurisdiction over Teal'c and Daniel. They were both civilians, technically speaking.

The only person he could really go after was Tokio. That did worry him so his mind started working on solutions. By the time he got home later that evening he had Tokio's defense pretty much figured out. He had a friend in the JAG he could call if things got out of hand. Tokio had called Maybourne out on his handling of the Tollans and their easy escape made him look like the sniveling fool he was. It was likely the man intended to take his frustration out on Tokio, the only target he had.

'I won't let him,' Hajime vowed to himself as he did a little research on how to protect Tokio. If push came to shove he would call Victoria. He was sure enlisting her help wouldn't be too hard. So now that the situation with the Tollans had ended and they were safely away from Earth it became easier to figure out what had caused his Tokio to snap. He wasn't able to speak to her on base again. By the time he was done with debriefings and reports she was gone. He learned from Janet she had been sent home shortly after the incident with Col. Maybourne. Col. Reynolds let him go home early so he managed to reach the apartment by 2 o'clock.

He found Tokio curled up on the couch buried under a blanket. The house was dark and the only noise was coming from the TV. She had her "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back" tape in the VCR. She started getting up as he walked in but he quickly asked her to wait for him there while he locked up the door. Her eyes were red and her face puffy. He didn't want to think how long she'd been sitting here crying in the dark all alone. He switched some of the lights on and headed for the couch. He put all other concerns out of his mind. Tokio was all that mattered to him right now…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Yay! I managed to get the next arc on its way! I already started the next chapter but that might take a little while. Hopefully by the end of the month! I am kind of jumping between this one and my Harry Potter/Buffy story so it might be a little slow in coming. Thanks for your patience! Happy Halloween!


	4. Intermission

TPWWBinter

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Stargate SG-1. Not making any money…you guys know the drill!

* * *

**Intermission: Where pride goes…**

* * *

Norma Peters exited her limousine feeling very proud of herself. Pete Thornton had told them they had 30 days to vacate but for reasons airheaded Norma could not comprehend they had been told to stay an extra 3 months after that. The firm was even forced to pay them a compensation for all the guests they lost in the months the house was closed for renovations. With all the money they made over the years and the money Takako Takagi left them her husband was able to buy them a nice big house not far from here. People started waving at her as soon as she arrived. The usual suck ups gathered around her quickly now as she arrived. In Aspen she was still queen and reveled in the fact that Victoria had been unable to dethrone her.

'Take that Carmen! Take your _hard work_ and _decency_ speeches and shove 'em!' she thought smugly as she passed the cemetery on her way to the field where a stage and many tables were set up for the huge dedication gala at the Janeway Manor.

As of today the house had officially been declared a historical landmark. That was the only reason they could no longer live here. The only people allowed to work here now were especially trained historians. Norma didn't care as long as she was still the queen of Aspen high society. She had always resented her cousin Carmen for her popularity. She hated always being in her shadow and being the town pariah just because she liked having fun and enjoying her youth. She had enjoyed tormenting Tokio with all those stupid lectures about prudence her cousin Carmen and her mother were always forcing on her.

"Good Evening Mr. and Mrs. Peters," a waiter greeted politely. She smiled haughtily as the young man led them to their table. They had the table to themselves for the moment. Her son and his fiancée Dania were running late. They would be coming here after they wrapped up his fiancée's birthday party. The suck ups continued to come and pay their respects. Her old image of the town slut was long buried and she worked extra hard to keep that secret. Those who still knew what she had been like had long since left town. The few that remained had been silenced by her father in law. She couldn't understand why her parents still wouldn't talk to her.

'They could come back and be treated like royalty around here all thanks to me! And my little brother calls _me_ stupid!' she thought smugly. Why they had cared about what happened to Tokio was something she could not understand. She glanced around and realized that all of Aspen's elite families were present along with the local news outlets. But there seemed to be a fair amount of people she didn't recognize. She was seated at a prominent table near the stage. Jagged Metal was doing a concert to commemorate the occasion.

'Carmen was their niece not their daughter. Who cares what happens to her brat?' she thought with a twinge of annoyance that she quickly banished. She played her grand dame part well these days though. Her father in law's position as a Senator was extremely dependent on their squeaky clean image and she gladly played her part. But her father in law understood the need for relief from all the pretenses they had to endure on a daily basis. She gladly assumed the role of stress relief for him over the years too. In return he made sure she had a very nice life with all the finest things money could buy. They had a nice arrangement, his wife died when Chris Sr. was young and she had no real husband so theirs was a mutually beneficial partnership.

And now that Chris Sr. was going to run for mayor she couldn't wait to rub her status in their faces. His "family values" and protection of "traditional" marriage campaign pretty much guaranteed him the election in this old fashioned town. It was everything she could hope for and more. She enjoyed the fact that it had all come so easy. She couldn't wait to call her family and tell them everything she had achieved. A local band was playing soft jazz while the guests mingled. Suck ups continued to drift towards them some pledging their support for Chris' mayoral campaign.

Victoria Stillwater arrived and created a buzz that annoyed Norma because it took attention away from her. She arrived with an entourage of bodyguards and students and the press swarmed around her. Norma did her best to keep her smile in place. Victoria and the boys Tokio hung out with scared her. She hated Tokio for associating with them and for allowing them to hurt her son. As far as Norma was concerned Tokio earned every beating she got. She felt Tokio was supposed to pay back for all the times Carmen had interrupted her fun!

'She deserved all of it!' she thought angrily as she watched Victoria pass by towards her table. At that moment Victoria turned and looked straight at Norma. She smiled at her in a way that made Norma more afraid than she had ever felt in her life! A woman near her asked her if she was alright; that she looked like she'd seen a ghost. Norma quickly composed herself and excused herself to return to her table and take her seat. A waiter refilled her champagne and she took a quick sip before she chanced a look at Victoria again. Victoria looked at her again still smiling from two tables away and raised her glass in a toast towards her. Norma willed her hand not to shake as she raised her glass and mirrored her gesture.

"I think we should leave," she whispered to Chris carefully making sure her smile was still in place.

"As usual you are being stupid. We're not going anywhere especially now that I'm about to run for mayor. This is my big moment! Now be quiet," he whispered back behind an equally fake smile. The band stopped playing and as they left the stage Aoshi Shinomori came out to welcome everyone and introduce Jagged Metal. The lights dimmed and Norma realized that as the band began to play her son still wasn't there. A very beautiful woman with exotic features and long curly dark hair suddenly sat next to her in the seat her son was supposed to have. A man with white hair and intense blue eyes sat next to her husband.

"Where is Chris?" she wondered fear for her son's life infusing every fiber of her being. The woman smiled at her.

"Relax, your son is fine. His girlfriend broke up with him so he doesn't feel like coming to a party, that's all," said the pretty girl next to her in an exotic accent. Norma frowned and looked back towards Victoria who again just smiled and raised her glass to her in toast. Norma didn't move and Victoria just laughed as did the rest of the people at her table.

"I should go check in on him then," Norma replied nervously. Faster than she thought humanly possible the woman's arm shot out to grab her arm.

"Stay," said the woman with an evil smile. Norma shook her head but on the woman's other hand was a federal agent badge. She looked over to her husband and he looked white as a sheet.

"The show is just getting started," growled the man with the intense blue eyes and a very intimidating glare. She said nothing as her hands began to shake in her lap…

Dak Tracer ended his first song and began working the crowd in preparation for his big reveal. First he introduced the people from the historic society and talked about the ceremony earlier that day. He talked about his days starting out in Australia leading the crowd carefully towards the point where he revealed his true identity. He cracked a joke about reporters knowing everything from his birthday to the size of the tattoo on his butt!

"But if you asked them if they know what my mom's name was all you hear is crickets," he teased. The audience chuckled a little. His tone became serious as he continued and he saw from the corner of his eye Norma watching her table companions nervously.

"And that surprises me because she was well known in these parts. She was famous or infamous depending on whether you were on her good or bad side," he joked then paused to let the momentum build.

"Her name was Takako…Takako Takagi," he said. He was rewarded with a collective gasp and the crowd began to grumble that he was lying. Someone in the crowd quickly pointed out that Michael and Richard Takagi were dead and Takako had no other children. On a screen a large picture of a teenaged Michael Takagi suddenly appeared and he explained what his mother did. He fought the wave of disbelief with anecdotes of his youth that many in the audience could corroborate. He answered a few questions from reporters by recalling the way his predecessors had chased after him in his youth. He surprised one young reporter with a tale of how his father had been a big old snitch when he was in school.

"Any way, I didn't come back to pick up where my mother left off… no thank you!" he continued undaunted. He explained he came back because he wanted to put his family to rest for good. No Takagi – or relative thereof – would ever live in the house again and wanted to come and say goodbye and do a little reminiscing with some old friends.

"In fact, I brought pictures! My little brother was really good with a camera and back then you really had to have a knack for that stuff. He had his own dark room and everything!" he explained cheerfully. He teased the younger people in the audience by explaining what a dark room was. So he started his reminiscence with a little movie of his first real show: A rave at an empty warehouse. The band he was playing with was doing a cover of a Beatles song but the set was interrupted by three people in army uniforms.

Dak pointed out the younger versions of some of the people in the party. His movie started with a quick shot of him and an 18 year old Richard. The movie continued as first Richard wandered through the crowd behind the camera as young men and women - who looked either drunk or high - made faces at the camera or teased Richard. Dak teased Pete as he finally came on the screen looking just as young as Richard and having a full head of hair. When the three army people arrived on the seen booing could be heard amongst the crowd. There was one woman and two men. The camera stayed glued on the woman but she never acknowledged its presence.

"I'm pretty sure this is where my little brother fell in love with Carmen," Dak teased and was rewarded with a few chuckles from the crowd. He pointed out Chris Peters as Rick hurried to keep up with the Carmen. He was making out with someone in a hallway and Rick interrupted him to find out which way Carmen went. The first bombshell of the night dropped and a shocked silence canceled all the noise in the crowd. Chris Sr. was aggressively making out with another young man. It was impossible to deny it was him. The young man on the old movie was practically a clone of Chris Jr. All eyes had turned to Chris and Norma who were apparently glued to their seats.

Dak continued as though he hadn't noticed the sudden silence and the second bombshell arrived as Rick caught up with Carmen. She had found her cousin in a small back room. Carmen was yelling at her in Spanish and Dak attempted to make a joke by apologizing for not putting any subtitles.

"We're already well past the PG-13 no sense in pushing it," he joked casually. There we a few scattered chuckles most of them coming from Victoria and her entourage. Carmen swatted the joint out of Norma's hand. All eyes in the audience were glued on the young woman being dragged by her hair now half naked by Carmen. The movie ended there and Dak continued. He talked casually as though he were reminiscing with old friends at home.  
He showed picture after picture of his youthful indiscretions. He was rock star and his image would not suffer from the pictures.

"Oh this was a great time! Hey Norma do you remember this one?" he asked cheerfully as he showed a picture of himself and a friend on a stage with Norma. She had taken off her shirt and was in the middle of a lewd dance pose as the two men played their guitars at either side of her. He joked that Carmen had yet again crashed their party and that he got a tattoo on his butt to cover the boot print she left there when he tried to pick her up with a very bad line.

"We had such good times back then," he concluded in a fond reminiscing tone. He continued peppering pictures of Chris with other men in compromising positions in between pictures of his own misadventures.

"Ah the sixties…to be that young again," he added with a sigh "all the parties, free love, stickin' it the man…wait what's this?" he asked as the party was interrupted by several men in black suits and shiny badges hanging around their necks. The crowd murmured in speculation as they watched the train wreck of Norma and her husband frozen to their seats…

With great satisfaction Special Agent Jethro Gibbs hauled the shocked Chris Peters out of his chair. Federal agents had arrived to serve him a warrant for his arrest. He was being charged with nothing more than tax evasion but the timing was spectacular. Dak had played his part well! He had exposed them for the hypocrites they were now the final humiliation came as Chris was hauled away in chains. Ziva was keeping Norma put as the woman began to cry. She begged Ziva to let her go home but his junior member was having none of it. People in the tables mumbled in shock and surprise…some in anger.

"You know it's a Michael Takagi party when somebody gets arrested," he teased and some chuckles rose from the crowd. "Hey fellas! You might wanna hang out for little while you might have to haul me away too as soon as I get into the champagne!" he called out and Gibbs joined the few in the crowd as that laughed. DiNozzo and McGee appeared and in a tongue in cheek way DiNozzo let him know he'd stick around for a while and keep him company. And that was part of the plan, there were bound to be some angry people whose political agendas had been destroyed by Dak's trip down memory lane. For his safety they would stick to him until he left town.

The party continued as Dak produced more photos of other so-called pinnacles of virtue in town…tearing down with satisfaction the facades of the elite.

'For you my sweet niece…' Dak thought as he continued his campaign to show the world who the "elite" of Aspen really are…

* * *

**-0000000-**

* * *

Chris Peters junior sat in his grandfather's study back in his house in Washington DC late that night. All of his dreams had washed down the toilet. He tried hard to wash down the bitter taste of regret and heartbreak with his grandfather's expensive whiskey. Senator Peters poured another glass of whiskey for him and his son. His deal with Victoria was that Chris Jr. would be spared jail and he would continue to be oblivious to his true parentage. He was the only one of his sons the senator would be allowed to save in exchange for his obedience to Victoria's orders. Chris Sr. would go to jail and all his money and properties – even some belonging to junior – would be seized. If he wanted to help Norma it would cost him extra. John was still thinking about it and hadn't decided what to do about her yet.

"I'm sorry Chris," he said softly. Chris had not been spared humiliations though. He had spent years telling people that Tokio had gone insane after the deaths of her family and that they were forced to send her to a mental institution in California after her "accident". He had told many a fake sob story to his friends about how far gone her mind was now to the point where it wasn't safe for anyone from her past to visit her. It had garnered him a whole lot of sympathy and popularity. But during his fiancée's birthday Tokio's friends had infiltrated the party disguised as caterers.

Instead of the videos reminiscing of his fiancée's childhood they had shown videos of a very mentally healthy Tokio. Some were videos with her friends, some short videos with her brand-new fiancé and of course surveillance videos taken by private detectives and pulled from street cameras and ATMs: videos that showed Chris being physically abusive towards Tokio. His friends turned on him in an instant. They all believed the stories he told that Tokio's mind was fragile and she had to be left alone. Those were the stories they had been told as children by their parents and Chris had this used to hide the campaign he had engaged in as part of Takako's dirty deal with him.

"You were right Grandpa. We should've just left her. We should've just sent her away from us the instant the old lady died," he replied drunkenly. His girlfriend had railed against him. She had been Tokio's best friend in school and clung to Chris begging for news of Tokio. Her parents had been friends with Tokio's parents and took her out of the school when Tokio's parents died and moved away from Aspen. She never knew why and by the time she returned and tried to find Tokio her best friend was gone. She had come to Chris despite her parents' objections and believed all the lies he told her. That was how they first came together. He loved Dania; the anger in her eyes and her words had cut deep. He tried to explain that he was trying to protect his mother but that just made it worse. She threw her engagement ring at him and spit in his face calling him a filthy scumbag and to never come near her again.

"It could have been worse Chris," his grandfather said softly. Chris merely nodded. The prestigious marketing firm in New York where he was about to accept a very lucrative position called to tell him they no longer wanted him. His current job in a marketing firm in Aspen called to tell him he'd been fired and not to bother coming back to the office because his final check and his personal effects from his desk would be shipped to him. He'd been blacklisted and no company would hire him now. His career was over and after tonight his grandfather's career would be in shambles too. His grandfather's men had come to rescue him and whisk him away from Aspen and brought him to DC.

"I suppose not going to jail is something," he replied in drunken slur sloshing the whiskey around his glass. One of the Oniwaban infiltrators had shown him a movie of when his parents were young that was to be shown at the gala that night. His mother and father would be humiliated tonight in front of all their friends. To top it off all the years that his parents rented out the rooms they had not paid taxes because his father believed it was a historical landmark and could be exempt. The Takagis had never paid taxes on their property but his grandfather explained that Tokio's ancestors had always found someone to blackmail into paying it for them. A fact Takako failed to mention to Chris Sr. His father was probably already in jail by now and by morning his mother would be on the street.

"What's gonna happen to mom? Is she going to jail too?" Chris asked. John shook his head.

"I don't know," John replied truthfully. He had secured a position for Chris in the American Embassy in Australia. He could start over and make a nice life there and maybe someday he could return once the scandals died down. If it didn't well John would just go and join him there once his Faustian contract with Victoria was concluded.

"Your mother is a survivor. She'll land on her feet. Don't worry about her," he added by way of reassurance. He decided then he would wait and see how Norma would be affected by this and let her figure her way out of this situation on her own. Victoria had already warned him that if he wanted to help her he'd have to re-negotiate their deal with him. She already had a tight enough leash on him and her imagination seemed to know no bounds. He didn't want to give her any more leverage against him. Chris Jr. was his only priority right now.

"Pride goes before a fall…I remember you said that to dad all those years ago when Takako was talking him into taking control of the house…you told him not to do it…he should've listened," said Chris sadly draining his whiskey and holding his glass out for more. John obliged him. He would concentrate on protecting young Chris for now and let the rest sort itself out…

* * *

Hey Fic Reader!

I'm glad you like how Haji handled it with Lisa and Kelly! It's his nature to protect his turf. Lisa was always the one who noticed what no one else noticed. The shallow air head thing always seemed like a cover. She will make it up to her but I can't say much because it would spoil the next chapter :) I can't say much about Maybourne or anything else without giving away my next chapter but you are on the right track! Thanks for reading!

TTFN


	5. Onward

TPWWB4

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Stargate SG-1. Not making any money…you guys know the drill!

* * *

**Chapter 4:**

* * *

The call had come in from Washington in record time. Col. Maybourne was to leave the SGC and pretend that nothing happened. He never tried to drug and kidnap the Tollans. He was never there. When he had asked the senator on the other end of the line about court-martialing Dr. Takagi for her insubordination he said:

"_Didn't you hear me colonel? You were never there!_" growled Sen. Peters at him and slammed the phone ending the conversation without another word. Maybourne had stomped away promising retribution. An empty threat at this point and Jack at least had the decency to wait until the colonel left before laughing. Col. Reynolds joined them and gave them an account of what he had heard from Dr. Frasier. Jack O'Neill laughed so hard his sides hurt.

"Davila asked for the weekend off and I approved it," Reynolds added between laughs. The general did a fair job of keeping his cool as the two colonels laughed. He was the boss after all!

"Come on sir cut her a little slack! I mean a whole week for saying what all of us were thinking!" pleaded Jack in between guffaws.

"I will not condone that kind of behavior among my officers!" he replied sternly "no matter how much Maybourne may have earned it," he added with a smirk. The two other men laughed.

"That said, I have sent her for psych-eval on Monday and depending on how that goes she can come back sooner," he concluded and both men stopped laughing giving him a quizzical look.

"A psych-eval?" asked Reynolds confused. Dr. Takagi was not a mentally unstable person as far as anyone on base could tell. She had passed all her psychological evaluations before she was sent to Cheyenne Mountain. No one knew Tokio's personal history better than the commander of the base though except perhaps for Hajime Davila.

"It was actually Davila's idea that I add the eval to whatever punishment she was getting. His reasoning for it was very sound so I accepted his suggestion," Hammond responded solemnly. Both men pulled their chairs forward as they listened very solemnly to why the General would be going easy on Dr. Takagi…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

"I thought you were on duty tonight?" she asked softly as Haji took off his shoes and joined her on the couch.

"SG1 took the rest of the shift tonight," he replied as he put his arms around her and held her tight. She tearfully explained that the General had suspended her for one week without pay and she had to go to the hospital in Peterson on Monday for a psychological evaluation. Depending on the recommendation of the counselor she might come back to work sooner.

Hajime was shocked. It was nothing but a slap in the wrist! She got off easy…too easy. He wondered if his short conversation with the general had caused him to go easy on her. Janet had invited her to come over and hang out with her and Sam later tonight. Sam was feeling pretty bummed out about Nareem and wanted some girl company to drink and vent with. Janet thought Tokio could use some of that therapy too. Sam was still at the base on duty the rest of this evening with the rest of SG1. Hajime thought this a great idea and said so.

"You should go. Take the bottle of tequila Eric left here with you," he suggested trying to lighten the mood. But he failed miserably; Tokio just curled up around him tighter and wept openly.

"I'm sorry. I never get in trouble! I always follow the rules! I don't know what came over me!" she sobbed bitterly.

"I do," he began with a sigh. "You remember when we were at the Shevadia?" he asked. She stopped crying and chuckled for a moment.

"Of course! It was great! Especially the return trip," she replied sounding a little like herself for a moment.

"You were on top of the world. They treated you like a queen everywhere you went. You were their savior. It was quite the rush right?" he continued but Tokio frowned not understanding where he was going with this sudden change in subject. He explained that from that trip she came back in such an emotional high note that she was able to swallow her true feelings about what Lisa and Kelly did more easily.

"Since then you talk to my friends in a false friendly tone, they haven't noticed but I did," he added solemnly.

"I had no choice but to sign a prenuptial agreement because you were scared and angry about what happened with Lisa and Kelly when they met Marco. But you just swallowed all of that anger and fear to keep your promise to me about being the perfect bride. So fast forward two months and all that anger and fear has been boiling under there with no outlet," he lectured stroking her back. She listened quietly now and he knew he was on the right track.

"At this point enters a group of peaceful and highly intelligent people whose whole world goes up in flames and they're left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Our peoples' response to their pain and loss is imprisonment and torture. Any of that sound familiar?" he paused and she nodded slightly. Of course it would, it was almost the exact description of Tokio's life!

"You think I just let out my anger in the wrong place?" she asked softly. Everything he was saying was true. She resented his friends for doubting her and it was increasingly difficult to pretend they didn't hurt her feelings.

"Tokio, the demon took you over because you bottled all of it up rather than dealing with it. Doing that only destroys who you are so I want you to yell at Kelly and Lisa because they certainly earned!" he insisted. He told her then that he knew very well that she was not the type of person that would attack someone without justification.

"But you _are_ the kind of person who defends herself when needed. It was wrong that you let them off the hook so easily. It hurt you and I can't stand that!" he concluded angrily adding that the next time she saw them she needed to be honest and let her anger out.

"Believe me they will understand. They were wrong and _your_ friends have been letting them know that from minute one and none of them will let them off the hook until you say something _truthful_ to them," he stated obviously unhappy. Tokio began to protest but Hajime cut her off.

"No buts Tokio! I can't stand you having to swallow who you are just to please other people! It's not fair to you and I hate it! You already did that for years and it was horrible for you! It almost turned you into a demon remember? Please, make me a new promise. Promise me that you won't be anyone but yourself! That is what I _really_ need from you," he pleaded with her holding her tight. He told her then how awful it had been to feel as if he had betrayed her. He talked about how scary it was that she wouldn't snap out of the demon when she had previously told him just one word from him had been enough to keep the demon away.

"To see you so cold and empty was absolutely awful," he recalled. It had been more than a little frightening that even his strongest intimidation stare had not registered even the slightest twitch of reaction from her. She had just smiled coldly at him.

"I'm so sorry Hajime! I promise I won't let it happen again! I will say something to Lisa and Kelly! By not being myself I broke my promise to you but it's not going to happen again!" she replied in earnest. She kissed him then. She assured him that she knew he would never betray her. She knew he could never let her down and that she could always count on him. Anger had overwhelmed her and clouded her judgment but she would never allow that to happen again.

"I know Tokio…I know all of that! It was just hard to see you suffer and not be able to do anything about it," he said softly as he held her. Suddenly she straightened and threw her blanket off of her as she got up.

"You know what; I'm not waiting two weeks or two months or whenever the hell I see them again! I'm not even waiting another minute! I'm taking care of this right now!" she declared as she marched over to grab her phone from her purse. He watched her with a swell of pride as the person she was calling answered her phone. He listened to her side of the conversation with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Hi sensei! How are you? I'm sorry to bother you at this hour ... No, I'm not even remotely ok. I need your help. Can I see you soon? ... This weekend maybe? ... Tomorrow!? … Really!? … Ok! I'll see you tomorrow!" she hung up the phone and smiled at Hajime looking and sounding more like herself now that she had a plan. He smiled as he walked over to her, picked her up and brought her back to the couch. She texted Janet to let her know she would be bringing a bottle of tequila and would stop and grab a couple of pizzas on her way to her house tonight. They settled in to watch the rest of the movie and talk about what had happened today allowing themselves a few laughs at Maybourne's expense before dozing off on the couch…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Friday morning found Tokio waking up on the couch in Sam's house. She roused herself out of it and stumbled over to Sam who was sound asleep on a recliner. Hajime had dropped her off to have dinner at Janet's but since she had to go to work the next morning - and Cass had school - she and Sam decided to go back to Sam's house. The two of them continued their party there. A little tipsy from the beers they had at Janet's they had to walk but Sam's house was only a couple of blocks away. They ended Tokio's bottle of tequila fairly quickly but Sam had another one and after that everything was a blur for Tokio. She had the vague memory that they had prank-called someone but couldn't be certain.

"Sam! Sam! Don't you have to work today?" she said shaking her friend lightly. Sam opened her eyes slightly.

"Huh? What time is it?" she mumbled groggily and slowly sat up. Still feeling the effects of the tequila Tokio stumbled towards her purse to check the time. She pulled out four pills for the headaches from her purse and a little water bottle while checking her cellphone for the time. She swallowed two of the pills and took a quick drink. She brought the other two pills to Sam and the water.

"It's just after eight," she replied handing Sam the pills and water. Sam gratefully took them and lay back down.

"The general ordered me to take the day off," Sam replied amid a yawn. They got up and went in search of coffee. Tokio was suspended so she didn't have anywhere to go but home today. She did tell Sam she was going out of town tomorrow to take care of some family business this weekend. She promised to dish with her and Janet when she got back. As they nursed their respective hangovers Sam's doorbell sounded. Sam groaned; she could easily guess exactly who was at her door at this hour. Tokio offered to go get the door. The aspirin and the coffee were kicking in and she was feeling pretty cheerful again.

"Good morning sir!" she declared cheerfully and slightly buzzed again thanks to the tequila and the kick from the caffeine in the coffee and the headache pills. Sure enough, Col. O'Neill, Teal'c and Daniel were standing at the door.

"Good Morning to you too doc! Where's Carter? She's gonna be late for work," he declared as Tokio led them into the kitchen.

"General Hammond gave me the day off," grumbled Sam and Tokio chuckled. Sam loved her team but she often said they drove her crazy. She felt like the babysitter to a bunch of troublemaking little boys.

"Is _every_ captain on the base taking the day off today?" asked the colonel miffed. He opened Sam's fridge and complained that she had no beer. Sam put her head down on her arms and groaned in equal parts annoyance and pain as her team noisily invaded her house.

"What do you mean sir?" asked Tokio cheerfully. He replied that aside from Carter, Thedford from 10, Orr from 6 and Davila from 3 were all off this weekend for one reason or another.

"Didn't you know?" he added surprised that he hadn't told her. Tokio shook her head.

"Oh I don't know…. Could it be he wanted to surprise her sir?" Sam replied sarcastically. Comprehension dawned on both the colonel and Tokio at the same time.

"Oh! You're right! Why didn't I think of that?" asked Jack and Tokio just laughed as Sam rolled her eyes and banged her head on her arm a few times.

"Yay! I better get home then!" Tokio exclaimed happily and asked Sam if she could use her phone to call for a taxi.

"No way! Anyone who calls Maybourne a "pathetic little man who's soul is more disgusting than a pile of fresh dog shit" shouldn't have to pay for a ride home!" the colonel protested indignant. Sam looked up and laughed along with Daniel. Tokio blushed deeply.

"It would be my greatest honor to drop you off!" he announced with cheesy theatric flourish.

"I can't believe you found out about that," she replied in a small embarrassed voice. He added everyone one base had probably heard about it by now. Now it was Tokio's turn to bury her face in her arms.

"An appropriately scathing retort doctor," Teal'c noted solemnly. Tokio groaned as the rest of SG1 laughed except for Teal'c - who never laughed. So, amidst raucous laughter in the kitchen as Sam recalled what Janet had shared with her the day before; she left with Colonel O'Neill. He thought she had tapped into everyone's feelings when she let loose on Maybourne and he thanked her several times for taking one for the team. She thanked him for the ride home and got out feeling a little bit better about her situation and hurried upstairs.

"Hajime! I'm home!" she called out as she came in. She was delighted when he called out to her that he was in the guest room.

"Give me a minute! I'm almost done!" he called back. She put her purse down and hurried down the hall. She found him doing pull ups on the bar he installed on the door of the guest room which he had modified to a home gym…

Hajime watched her amused, she stumbled a little as she made her way down the hall and giggled constantly. She sat in the hallway and watched him with a girlish giddy look on her face and he wondered if she was still drunk. He explained without pausing SG5 was doing the evening shift tonight. SG1 was sent home today because they would be on duty this weekend.

"Oops! Sam's not gonna like that!" she giggled. He chuckled a little. Tokio was definitely drunk and it was a new experience for him. He'd seen her lightly buzzed but never outright drunk. She had called a few times last night to tell him silly little jokes.

"I thought you guys would still be asleep! How was the party?" he asked amused as he dropped down from the bar. She jumped up from her spot to kiss him not even giving him a chance to let go of the bar!

"I missed you!" she declared giggling cheerfully. He laughed; this was certainly new for him!

"Tokio, are you drunk honey?" he asked knowing full well this was the case. She paused with a confused/surprised look on her face.

"I think I still am!" she replied and laughed. She released him and he picked up his water bottle and towel.

"I'm starving! Let's make some breakfast!" she announced as she threw herself on him again. She kissed him once more before he could respond. He laughed and bent down to pick her up and carried her to the kitchen. He chuckled amused as she explained in rapid fire that Col. O'Neill had shown up at Sam's place this morning and he gave her a ride home.

"The colonel said I had his permission to call Maybourne a stinking pile of dog poo whenever I wanted!" she announce cheerfully. He laughed.

"Ok! No more tequila for you!" he laughed as he put her down in the kitchen and got to work on breakfast. The land line rang as he started to pull things out for breakfast and Tokio answered it as she walked to the stereo to put on some music. From Tokio's cheerful greeting he could tell it was Victoria on the phone. He paused to listen in and as he realized the woman was only minutes away from the house he put the eggs back in the fridge and dragged a giddy Tokio back to the room with him.

When it came to getting dressed Hajime was The Flash! He could be out the door showered and dressed in under 6 minutes! But with a drunk and giddy Tokio in tow he went from Speedy Gonzalez to Slow Poke Rodriguez speed. He had just finished pulling on his shirt when the doorbell rang. He hurried out to greet Victoria and warn her…

Victoria walked into Tokio and Hajime's apartment noticing right away that he was freshly showered and seemed oddly winded. He greeted her with a smile though and invited her to have breakfast with them.

"Tokio is still getting dressed. She was out last night at a friend's house and just got home," Hajime explained as he headed back to the kitchen to continue with breakfast. Tokio came running out of the room then and Victoria was surprised by how cheerful she was. She had sounded so distraught over the phone that Victoria cut short her meetings in DC to find out what was going on. She looked over at Hajime as she hugged Tokio and he smirked and mouthed the words: _she's drunk_.

"Shuura is still a couple of hours out. She's going to fly us out to Aspen," Victoria began doing her best to not look too amused.

"We're going to Aspen? I thought we'd be going to Cali!" Tokio countered in a super cheerful and loud voice. Victoria explained that there was a photo shoot at the Janeway Mansion going on and everyone she needed to speak to was there. Victoria had Shuura fly Kelly, Lisa, Tori and Jesse out today to Aspen because she felt this was a more appropriate place for the kind of meeting Tokio needed with them. She needed to be on a home court and she needed to put to rest all that anger from the past for good.

"Wow! Super convenient! Awesome!" Tokio announced overflowing with bubbly cheerfulness. She danced along as she set the table and Victoria exchanged an amused/surprised look with Hajime. This was a new experience for Victoria too. Tokio had never, _ever_ been drunk before. She had never allowed herself those indulgences for she knew they would leave her more vulnerable than she usually was.

"Tokio-chan, why don't you go finish getting dressed and I will help Hajime get breakfast ready," Victoria offered taking the placemats from her.

"You sure?" Tokio asked in a sweet innocent tone.

"I insist," Victoria replied gently.

"Ok!" Tokio agreed cheerfully and hugged Victoria tightly before skipping merrily away towards the bedroom. Hajime and Victoria got breakfast underway as Tokio danced away to her bedroom to finish getting ready. Her hair was still wet and she was still in her long bathrobe and slippers. It surprised Victoria that the girl hadn't been perturbed by her half-dressed state when her mentor arrived. But it all made sense when she realized Tokio was still drunk! Hajime explained she had spent the night at a friend's house getting drunk.

"They both had a very bad day at the base," he continued. He skipped giving details on what Sam and Tokio's "bad day" had entailed but Victoria didn't ask. She read the report that came across Sen. Peters' desk but did not say so to Hajime. She was determined to protect their positions in the SGC! Hajime was grateful that she never asked anything about what he did for a living. Instead, she asked at what time he picked her up this morning.

"I didn't pick her up. Col. O'Neil dropped her off this morning," he replied and chuckled as he explained that she and her friend Sam had prank-called last night so he had expected them to sleep in. Victoria stopped what she was doing looking shocked.

"She arrived early though because the colonel went looking for Carter not knowing the general ordered her to take the day off," he explained "though I doubt the colonel didn't know. He probably went to her house to bug her. He loves giving her a hard time!" he added and laughed. Victoria just stared for a moment.

"That's…amazing!" Victoria replied surprised and laughed too.

"What do you mean?" Haji asked confused. Victoria took a deep breath and sighed as she began her tale. When she met Tokio she was defensive loner that distrusted everything and everyone around her. She explained that Tokio never, ever drank alcohol. Night had forbidden that she drink until she was of age even in countries that had no drinking age. But even after she became of age she never did more than fake-sip a glass of champagne or wine at the dinners and parties Night took her to.

"Spending the night at the house of someone she hasn't known long, taking a ride home from a man she wasn't familiar with; _prank-calling_! All these things would've been unthinkable for the Tokio of just six months ago! She has come a long way," she concluded amazed as she helped Hajime with the cooking.

"I think so but she feels she still has a long way to go," Hajime replied stacking pancakes neatly onto their dishes.

"Less than she thinks," Victoria replied confidently but this new development brought up a new issue.

"She has opened up a lot though…things are going to be ugly today for Lisa and Kelly…you know that right?" Victoria added softly. Hajime shrugged unperturbed.

"They're my friends they can take it! Besides, they know they were wrong," Hajime replied unconcerned. He added that he suspected that Lisa might guess what's going to happen when they see her. He explained he'd taken the weekend off so he could come along too.

"Well at least as far as the hotel. I don't want to be there when she confronts them. She'll hold back if I am," he added solemnly. Victoria nodded and opened her mouth to agree but stopped when she realized the house was suddenly too quiet. Tokio had been making a fair amount of cheerful noise. Hajime offered to go check on Tokio and when he came back he told Victoria she was sound asleep.

"That's good. Just let her sleep," Victoria replied amused. Hajime agreed easily and they both sat down to eat…

* * *

Tokio felt jittery as she sat quietly next to Victoria in the back of her limousine late Friday afternoon. Victoria was concentrating on a report on her lap and left Tokio to her thoughts. She knew how she would handle Hajime's friends. She had already prepared a calm and detailed speech about how unfair their actions had been and how they're thoughtless actions had adversely affected the life she and Hajime planned to build. But right now she couldn't concentrate on her rehearsed speech. Her old home was in view finally and anger began to build in her.

There were Oniwaban security guards at the gate and once inside she could see several cars parked along the driveway. There were good memories in this place but all she could think of were the bad ones. A group of young beautiful women stood in the garden laughing and smiling. She felt her stomach clench in anger.

'They have no right to be happy here!' was the irrational thought that came into her head at the sight of them. It was a thought that often invaded her mind as a child. Whenever Chris would bring his friends they would make fun of the way she dressed and he would pretend to stand up for her. She had to play a sad little "crazy girl" routine so he could pretend to be the martyred big brother in front of them. The consequences were terrible when she chose to defy him. She resented anyone who could have fun and laugh in her home while she was so miserable. She looked away from them and took a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself as she stepped out of the car.

"I want to go to the cemetery," she said to her mentor solemnly. Victoria nodded and moved to talk to the shoot director letting her know she would catch up to her in a minute. The effects of the tequila and caffeine had worn away on the flight over to Aspen and as she looked around at all the pretty girls who laughed and posed out in the garden and on the porch her anger rose. She looked away and walked purposefully towards the house. She returned a polite greeting to the girls who recognized her by the door.

She took another deep breath but her anger continued to rise. She could hear the echoes of more laughter from strangers in the house and again it made her feel betrayed. She walked towards the kitchen heading to the back door the anger now making it difficult to speak as she passed without a word another group of people laughing and sipping coffee in the kitchen. Her steps became faster as she headed towards the cemetery. She spotted Sano by the entrance looking very unhappy and it softened her anger enough to be able to greet him.

"Hey sis," he said softly as he hugged her. She managed a smile feeling her anger recede as she told him she was glad he was here and asked her where Aoshi and Kenshin were. They were in California with Hajime's mom and Tokio's cousins. He explained that Dak had revealed his true identity and pissed off a lot of powerful people in the process.

"Aoshi wanted to make sure they were safe," he explained. And it was the reason he was here. They didn't know whether Hajime would be with her or not.

"So I'm your bodyguard! And that's the only upside to the job everything else is a drag," Sano added sounding more upbeat. He grumbled that he had spent the morning keeping the divas away from the back of the house. He disliked being around Victoria's models now that Tokio didn't work with them.

"Back up for a sec…My uncle pissed people off so much our families need bodyguards?" Tokio asked annoyed. She felt her anger boil back up.

"Momma and Sensei's idea really… He just did what he was told," Sano added with an apologetic shrug. He explained that they wanted payback for what the Peters did. Dak volunteered as did many of her friends.

"He'll explain when he gets here. He's doing some stuff for Sensei right now," he added with another shrug. But before Tokio could give vent to how reckless and pointless whatever they did was, Sano turned away from her and started yelling at some interlopers.

"Hey you! How many times do I have to tell you? This area is off limits! What are you people stupid?" he yelled as he marched away to yell at a group of girls who began to argue with him. Tokio clenched her teeth and went into the cemetery. Angry all over again that her uncle would put her cousins in harm's way.

"What is it with this family!?" she grumbled angrily to herself in the empty cemetery. She stared at the plaque with the names of her parents but instead of sad she felt more and more angry. She looked away from it and walked around the cemetery looking at the plaques with names of her various relatives feeling angrier with every step she took. She didn't understand the anger at her parents. They didn't mean to die after all.

'But they left me behind with a crazy old lady and no back-up plan in case something happened!' she finally realized. All the pieces were falling into place for Tokio now. Her father should've known to be prepared. While Tokio knew her mom was noble and idealistic - Carmen believed that there was good in everyone. Her father was more practical and suspicious but Tokio had only seen that side of him on rare occasions. There was no way her father wouldn't have guessed what could happen if he did not return.

'Was he counting on Pete to protect me?' she wondered making her way back to the newer graves in the front of the cemetery. If so, her father had grossly over-estimated his friend's abilities. She looked around and felt disgust join her anger.

'Frauds every last one of them,' she thought. As she examined with a more cynical eye her family tree. Sojiro Seta had worked hard to build their wealth and atone for his past through honest work. The rest of his descendants – beginning with both his daughters – had spent their lives hiding in shadows and putting on false faces while destroying anything that could put a smudge on their flawless masks. She stopped in front of her grandmother's grave feeling revolted to be related to these people.

'They had no talents of their own! They just leached off of better and brighter people!' she thought angrily. She stood in front of her grandmother's grave and looked at it. As she did, it felt as if she were seeing it for the first time. There was a white marble stone standing four feet tall by two feet wide. Her name was carved above her grandfather's name in large, ornate bold gold letters. She looked over at her family's plaque and saw that it was just a simple black stone slab with their names inscribed in white. Terribly small when compared to the large white stone above her grandmother's grave. It was the final straw for!

Tokio turned around raced down to the shed by the orchard. She shoved open the door and kicked and shoved tools aside looking for the one she wanted. When she found the sledgehammer she raced back upstairs to the cemetery not even noticing that both Victoria and her Uncle Dak were calling out to her as they walked across the back yard towards the cemetery. She pulled back the hammer and swung it with all her might. Her aim was true as she hit her mark over and over again crumbling the stone bit by bit…

"Oh man…do I have to go over there right this minute?" asked Dak nervously. Victoria chuckled darkly.

"Yes, now is the perfect time," she countered with an evil smirk. Sano laughed.

"Wow is she pissed! Sucks to be you!" he laughed loudly. Dak glared at him. Sano was the only one of Tokio's friends who never failed to harass him whenever he got a chance. Dak really couldn't fault him and despite how much Sano liked to tease and harass him he actually had grown fond of the boy. Perhaps it was his family resemblance that made Dak forgive Sano so much.

"Victoria, she's got a sledgehammer!" he retorted annoyed and just a bit scared. Victoria and Sano just laughed.

"You'll be fine!" she insisted and gave him a little shove towards Tokio.

"Come on Sano. Let's go give them some room," she said patting him on the shoulder and both walked away shooing the next batch of looky-loos away…

Dak approached cautiously. Tokio had every right to turn around and swing that hammer at him. He would not fault her in the least if she did but that didn't mean he wasn't gonna do his best to dodge! Her head jerked up and her hammer paused as she spotted him. She continued her swinging as she spoke.

"Do you have any idea how stupid that was?!" she yelled at him as her hammer hit its mark again and again.

"Haven't you learned anything!? I went through hell! The least you could do is make sure Linda and Liz never have to go through it!" she continued to yell at him as she furiously pounded on the stone.

"Whoa there! I know it was risky but I did not leave my girls without a solid backup plan! I learned my lessons! Your boy Hajime schooled me so well my backup plan has a backup plan! And the backup plan of my backup plan has a backup plan! I learned! Trust me!" he insisted enthusiastically. He eyed Tokio's hammer hanging mid-swing nervously but it seemed the mention of Hajime knocked some of the wind out of her sails. She chuckled a little as she let her arms drop but she did not release the hammer.

"I'm not gonna hit you Uncle," she let him know obviously amused. He let out the breath he was holding in utter relief and relaxed. She laughed.

"Not that I'm not extremely grateful but can ask you why?" Dak asked cautiously. Tokio sighed and looked back at the wreckage of her grandmother's grave.

"They were frauds Uncle. What was done to me could've easily been done to you…in fact I think my grandmother meant to do it to you but you derailed her by becoming scandalously famous," she began. She took a deep breath and Dak was quiet as she explained.

"She couldn't hurt you. She had no weapons that she could use on you that's why she faked your death…and let's face it she was not the brains of the operation! She was an airhead who did flower arrangements, played the shamisen and tied kimonos," Tokio continued scorn plain to hear on her voice.

"Don't forget manipulated people to get what she wanted. She was good at that!" Dak put in with a touch of resentment. He hated the way his mother always used people's feelings to hurt them or control them. But he remembered that his little brother had that skill too. In fact, Rick at a young age was better at manipulating people than perhaps any of his predecessors. He decided not to say so.

"Everything that was done to me had been setup for decades by more clever and devious minds than her," she added. She explained that in order for Chris and his parents to be able to get away with everything he and his parents did required an extensive network of blackmail and extortion. Something her grandmother did not have the knowledge or resources to do by herself.

"They had been planning this for generations…"

"Stop Tokio. Let's not talk about this anymore," Dak cut in with a stern look. Tokio looked back at him curious.

"You and the girls are free from their shady crap. Don't let them poison your future," he insisted with a worried tone. Tokio almost protested but she realized that he was right and said so. Digging into the shady dealings of her ancestors would compromise her standing in the SGC and she was already skating thin ice there. Now with all the anger dealt with she realized how foolish she had acted at the base. There were better ways of handling jackasses like Maybourne. She knew that!

"I'm moving the Takagis out of the Janeway estate and taking them to a local Aspen cemetery, except for your parents. Your mom wanted to be buried in California according to the Army so that's where I wanna take them if it's ok with you," he asked softly moving closer to her now. Tokio finally let the hammer fall to the ground. She was exhausted but the tightness that had been squeezing her chest since Thursday was letting go now.

"Yea…that's fine. She wanted us to move to California you know," she replied. Her mother's move to return to the army was also a ploy to make them get out of Aspen. She was going to be stationed in San Diego and was actually looking forward to it. They were all leaving the following year once their mother got settled in.

"You know I think I see why Rick liked your mom so much. Once she set her mind to something she was freight train! Unstoppable! Little brother was too used to getting his way. Your mom didn't let him did she?" he asked pulling Tokio away and starting to head towards the house. Tokio paused to look back at her mother's grave. Sure she compromised a little here and there but when it came to major decisions she was the boss. Letting Tokio stay that one summer to be trained was likely the only concession she was going to give Rick and Takako on her daughter's future.

'And she only did it because I wanted to stay,' she realized now. Her head spun as she tried to put all the pieces into place. How different would her life have been if her mother had come back?

"Yea, you're right. She never did!" she replied with a chuckle. Both of them walked back into the house together and Tokio told her uncle more stories but focused this time on the fights her mother and her grandmother had seeing things in a new light. The more her grandmother tried aggrandizing the legacy the more Carmen found ways to belittle it. She had toned it down that last year but Tokio wondered if it was to soften the blow because they were leaving. They were in the kitchen sipping cold water and chatting when Victoria returned with Kelly, Lisa, Jesse, Tori and Shuura in tow…

**-0-**

Hajime stepped out into the reception area and spotted the two women that had asked to meet him. Both were about the same age as he and Tokio, one was a brunette, the other a blonde but the only really distinguishing fact about them was their dogs. The blonde was holding the leash of a huge reddish brown dog the other had a bluish-gray large greyhound. It was a good thing they told him about the dogs. He would've had no other way to set them apart from all the young women coming and going from the Stillwater Resort this weekend.

"Hey! You must be Emily and Jetta," he called out as he approached. Both women smiled and greeted him cheerfully the dogs wagged their tales as Hajime allowed them to sniff his hand then scratched each one behind the ears.

"Clifford's a good judge of character! You must be a really nice guy!" Emily pointed out as she patted her happy dog. The two women quickly thanked him for meeting them and assured him their meeting wouldn't take long. The Stillwater Resort welcomed pets so Hajime invited them back inside where they could take their dogs to the pet friendly area. There weren't any pets at the resort at the moment so the women released the dogs to play. There were benches along the edge of the fence and a few picnic tables. They headed towards the tables.

"As you might know we went to school with Tokio," Emily began once they found a table to settle down in.

"If you are the Emily and Jetta that I'm thinking of you were more than just Tokio's classmate. She said you were her best friends," Hajime countered solemnly. Emily and Jetta looked at each other sadly.

"That was another life ago Hajime but it's nice to think she might remember us that way," Jetta replied sadly.

"But that's not why we're here! Our time is over but we still want to help Tokio," Emily countered quickly and launched herself into their tale. Victoria sent them on mission to put Hajime up to date with what had happened during the grand re-opening of the Janeway Estate. He laughed as Emily recounted how Dak played old movies that brought the Peters' carefully manicured world crashing down in a fiery blaze. As a result of the public humiliation of the Peters' they were concerned that it would affect Tokio negatively and wanted to head that off if they could.

"Mainly we're working to distance her from the Peters' as much as possible. Thankfully Tokio has been away from Aspen since she was 14 so it won't be too hard," Jetta explained. Emily worked in social services and Jetta was detective with Aspen PD. They were able to include some emancipation requests into Tokio's file with a date of June 1990.

"Wait a minute! Any illegal activity could harm Tokio's standing with the Air Force. Are these papers legal?" Hajime pressed concerned.

"Oh yes! The papers are all on the up and up! We've been very careful! Everything falls neatly into place with all of Tokio's life experiences," Jetta reassured him immediately. Emily explained that since Tokio left she never once came to Aspen to seek the Peters or anyone else in town for any reason. They also never appeared at any graduation ceremony or major event in Tokio's life. And there was plenty of evidence that the Peters never had good intentions towards Tokio.

"We often intercepted letters and we have one they sent the year after Tokio left. In it the Peters were disavowing themselves of her and we used that as back up for the files. Believe me we are careful!" Emily insisted. They had amassed a wealth of proof that the Peters never took care of Tokio especially once she left Aspen. Hajime nodded reassured and the two women continued their sad tale. They had often snuck in Chris' house to plant listening devices. They had spent years spying on Chris and waiting for a day when they could use the material they had gathered to help Tokio in some way. They had found ways in the past of alerting police officers when Chris and his friends had illegal drugs at a party or were vandalizing property.

"The most we ever could do was get him a few hours in jail and then Pete would come and save him. He got more careful once he turned 18. It was harder then because he traveled a lot," Emily concluded dejected.

"A small victory is better than none at all," Hajime pointed out impressed that they had put themselves at such risk to avenge their friend. They smiled sadly at him.

"So what do you need me to do," he asked them solemnly. It was simple enough. They just needed to make sure that Tokio disassociated herself with anything to do with her past. That she not have any contact with anyone she ever knew during her time living in Aspen. The Peters and all those who helped them were headed for more major public humiliations and criminal prosecution so the further away Tokio was from them the better.

"It's _their_ load of crap that's about to hit them! We don't want it smeared on Tokio!" concluded Jetta firmly. It wasn't just for their friend that they did this. Their families had suffered a great deal too. Jetta's father had been passed for many a promotion over the years and Emily's parents almost lost their house. Financial troubles plagued many of their families because the Peters were the financial backbone of Aspen. Many families who had once been friends with Carmen and Richard were forced to move to other states. But not everyone was able to leave.

"I am sure that it won't be a problem," Hajime offered confidently. Tokio had talked to him about the girls who were her best friends in school but had not shown any interest in contacting any of them. He decided not to share that information but promised to speak to Tokio and explain the importance of her leaving her old life behind. Jetta and Emily looked genuinely relieved and shared an anecdote with him about how as children they had all voted Tokio to be the most likely one of them to get married first.

"We were 8 years old and my aunt was getting married so we got all caught up in it! It was silly! But it looks like it'll turn out to be true!" laughed Emily. They called their dogs to them and headed out talking fondly about their fun and super smart friend Tokio…

**-0-**

Victoria left with Dak almost as soon as she arrived with Hajime's friends. The girls all stayed behind and Tokio teased Shuura about her and Sano trading posts. Sano left as Victoria's guard and Shuura stayed behind to be Tokio's guard. Kelly, Lisa and Jesse sat at the kitchen table with her. Tori grabbed a water bottle and tossed one to Shuura. Shuura grabbed a stool and positioned herself by the backdoor. Tori jumped up on the counter and sat there subtly watching the main kitchen entrance as the girls talked.

Tokio wanted to know how her dress was coming along and Lisa – almost desperately it seemed – latched on to the subject. She pulled out some pictures and had barely started her rant when a group of young women entered the kitchen. Tokio recognized them as some of Victoria's new models. Their leader looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't remember where she had seen her. Tori jumped down from the counter and moved towards them.

"The kitchen is off limits. You people are supposed to be clearing out. The shoot is done for today," Tori announced solemnly slipping into bodyguard mode. Tokio noticed Shuura was on her feet too and it suddenly put her on alert. Whenever Oniwaban slipped into guard mode it made her internal alarms go haywire. The leader of the girls rolled her eyes and the other girls protested.

"Victoria's not here and you're just a rent-a-cop. I don't have to do what you say," said the woman snootily. Tokio's hackles were raised instantly and she quickly got off her chair.

"You heard my friend! Now apologize for your rudeness and do as you were told!" Tokio ordered firmly. She was not going to allow anyone to act like a bully in her home ever again! The girl turned to Tokio but something in Tokio's face gave the girl pause. She drew herself up after a second's hesitation to reply.

"Why? Because the almighty princess commands it? You know the wolf never had any problems with our parties until you showed up," snarled the young woman at Tokio. Her friends rallied around her to encourage her. Tori stepped forward to say something but Tokio held up a hand to stop her. She was aware that Shuura was standing behind her now and Jesse was now standing next to her but Kelly and Lisa were silent at the table.

'Another test perhaps?' she thought wondering why Kelly and Lisa weren't getting up to defend Hajime. Suddenly she was angry all over again. She remembered finally where she had seen this girl. Tokio had cursed her out a couple of months ago when she tried to give Hajime crap after he outted them to their boss.

"As I very clearly pointed out to you before: Hajime was behaving like a proper guest! That means he was tolerating his host's other guests to the best of his abilities. Tell me, at what moment did Hajime ever approach you and say he enjoyed your festivals of debauchery? Did he ever walk over to you and so: "Oh yea, I really love it when I come home tired and sometimes hurt to watch you all make disgusting fools of yourselves and make so much scandal and noise that I have to spend my few hours of rest being interrogated by the police officers that come to break up your party?" Tell me! Go ahead!" Tokio challenged. The girl opened her mouth but Tokio never let her answer.

"Hajime is hard working man! He deserves – no… _**he earns**_! – the right to come home and sleep in peace! You have no right to inflict the consequences of your poor judgment on those of us who are trying to earn an honest living protecting jackasses like _**you**_!" she growled at the girl. Tokio took step forward with her fists clenching and unclenching. The group of young women stepped back as a whole trying to find a way to detach themselves from the confrontation. But it was too late; Shuura had moved like a ghost and positioned herself behind the group preventing them from making an escape. Shuura looked like she was enjoying their misery a little too much.

"Answer her Dalila! I'd hate for something terrible to happen to your contract renewal," threatened Jesse angrily. Several of the young women behind Dalila blanched. One of them pulled on Dalila but to her credit she stayed where she was.

"Whatever, I still don't have to take orders from a rent-a-cop," retorted the woman nervously. Tokio ground her teeth.

"THIS IS MY HOUSE! I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN THIS HOUSE! YOU WILL APOLOGIZE TO MY FRIEND AND REMOVE YOURSELF AS YOU WERE TOLD!" Tokio thundered and suddenly Dalila was paralyzed with fear.

"I-I am very sorry. I'll be going now," Dalila finally stammered after being pulled by one of her cohorts. All of them raced out of the kitchen almost tripping over each other. Shuura and Tori laughed.

"That was awesome!" announced Tori going to the kitchen doorway. She high fived Shuura and the two bodyguards laughed as they watched Dalila and her crew scurry away. Tokio was not feeling in any way awesome. Laughter suddenly erupted in the kitchen as Lisa and Kelly finally joined in the fun. Kelly commented that it was about time someone put the next generation in its place. Jesse wasn't laughing either she was watching Tokio.

"So is this how it's always going to be?" she asked angrily whirling around to Lisa and Kelly.

"A situation comes up and you're going to wait to see what I do and judge whether I acted in Hajime's best interest _**then**_ show support. Am I _always_ going to be on trial?" Tokio demanded. Her carefully prepared speech flew out the window in her renewed anger.

"At the risk of sounding childish: It's unfair! Yolanda never once gave you reason to trust her yet you gave her chance after chance for _months_! I didn't even get one chance before you threw me under the bus!" Tokio demanded angry again. Her fists shook with rage and she crossed her arms to stop them from shaking.

"You're right! It was wrong what we did to you! You didn't deserve!" Kelly began casting a frightened glance at Jesse as she got up of the table. Lisa got up too and took a step towards her but took moved a step away.

"Tokio I swear if we could take it back we would! We understand…"

"You understand nothing Lisa! You don't understand the damage you've done!" Tokio yelled at her. Both Lisa and Kelly were shocked into silence.

"Do you want to know what I knew about you two before I met Hajime?" she asked but Lisa and Kelly seemed too stunned to respond.

"I wanna know," began Jesse softly. She laid a hand gently on Tokio's shoulder "tell us" she encouraged in a firm tone. Tokio drew strength from Jesse's confidence.

"Kelly I heard some women saying that you were such a tool! How could you marry Zach Morris! He's such a player! And when they asked me what I thought I told them I had better things to do with my time then talk crap about someone behind their back!" Tokio snarled at her. Kelly sighed; she didn't seem all that surprised to hear it. She silently wiped a tear from her face. It was all that gossip that made Zach go out and get them a prenuptial agreement too. The gossip had stopped when the word went out on the agreement he signed. Tokio didn't pause for long.

"I met your father Lisa when I was in medical school. Another professor told him what a shame it was that his daughter didn't have medical aptitude given how talented he and his wife are," Tokio began trying hard to reign in the anger that leaked into her voice. "I told him that Dr. Turtle's daughter was a lucky girl to have such amazing parents that don't expect her to be anything but herself! And how rude it was of him to expect her parents to force her to be something she didn't want to be!" she ground out angrily.

"That was you…" Lisa said in the smallest voice her throat suddenly strangled by a sob. Kelly came over to Lisa who was trying hard to control her sudden burst of tears.

"What people said about either of you means nothing to me! You know why? Because Hajime said he loved you! That you were his loyal and loving sisters! His word was enough for me!" she concluded resentfully

"If we could take it back…if we could do it over…" Kelly began despondently.

"You could have right now! Why didn't you?" Tokio snapped back at her. Kelly stared at her like she had lost her marbles!

"You're so scary," she answered in a terrified whisper. Lisa's head bobbed up and down quickly in agreement and her eyes were as wide as saucers. That brought Tokio's rampage to a halt. The only times she thought she was scary was when she was the demon. But she didn't fall into demon mode this time. She looked back at Shuura and Tori confused. The two women laughed.

"Yea, that was pretty frightening! Especially when you kicked the chair when you got up," Shuura assured her amused.

"I kicked the chair?" Tokio asked perplexed but she got the answer to her own question when she looked at the spot where she'd been seated. The chair was still laying on the floor. This was a brand new concept for Tokio. The idea that she could be scary was mostly ridiculous but the scared and tearstained faces on Lisa and Kelly now spoke volumes on it.

"Normal people usually keep their mouths shut when scary people are screaming you know," Tori added as she laughed with Shuura. Kelly and Lisa nodded vehemently. Suddenly Tokio laughed too.

"That is so weird! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you," she said but couldn't stop laughing and as she laughed the doubt and anger washed away finally. Kelly and Lisa didn't know what to make of it. They exchanged a nervous glance with each other and then with Jesse.

"I say they earned that one," replied Jesse calmly who had watched the whole exchange in silence.

"Yea! Totally! And we will never earn another one again!" Kelly assured. Lisa nodded vigorously again it seemed her tongue was still stuck to the back of her throat. Tokio took a deep breath as her amusement ended. She felt satisfied now that they would no longer interfere with Hajime's love life.

"So I have your word that you won't cast any doubts on me again. No matter who I know, correct?" she asked but there was the implication that there was only one correct answer. Kelly and Lisa uttered the correct answer with fervor: They would never allow even the possibility of doubt to so much as graze her or Hajime ever again. Tokio looked from one to the other then at Shuura and Tori by the door. She wasn't the only one who required satisfaction on this matter. Her friends had been offended too and as Shuura and Tori gave her an ok she nodded too.

"Ok then. I'm satisfied," she replied calmly but as she started to turn away she realized she would not be mad at them any longer. Hajime loved them and that was enough for her to want to love them and forgive them too. She turned back towards them and embraced both women in a tight squeeze.

"I'll take good care of him I promise," she told them softly.

"We know," Lisa croaked as she and Kelly wept openly again. She felt Jesse's long arms join in the little group hug. She felt a quiet tear from Jesse but Tokio had no tears left. She felt relieved and satisfied that one more obstacle had been dealt with. The prenuptial agreement didn't really bother her and she felt actually glad that she had it. No one could hurt her happiness now – even an alien invasion couldn't take it away!

"Let's go now. I'm tired and hungry and I want to see Hajime," she said as she dislodged herself from the girls. Tori stepped in then and reminded Lisa and Kelly they had some work to do for Victoria still.

"Shuura's gonna take you home Tokio," Tori added with a satisfied smirk. Tokio hugged her and thanked her.

"Any time pal," Tori replied sincerely. Tokio left chatting now cheerfully with Shuura about wanting to go relax with Hajime for the rest of her weekend. She wondered where the good spots for dinner were nowadays. It had been years since she had been in Aspen after all!

Tori watched them go for a minute as she typed Aoshi a quick text message that all had been resolved. She promised in her message to give him a full report. At the same time Jesse pulled out her laptop and concentrated on some legal documents. There was still the matter of getting Hajime and Tokio out of the prenup. She was more determined now than ever to find a way out for her friends. She had tried to make a deal with Oume but the woman slammed the door in her face both literally and figuratively. But it had not deterred her. She was not going to let up until she found a way out…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Hajime and Tokio were enjoying their date night. They decided to leave the resort in order to find some privacy while they dined. The girls left as soon as they returned from the mansion. Hajime and Tokio made sure to see them off. Then Tokio took them to an old hotel and as she explained that Hotel Jerome had been open since 1889 their waitress appeared with the first of their drinks and cheerfully let them know that their bill would be on the house tonight. Hajime – ever the suspicious one – asked why and the waitress told him the owner had called to say they were his special guests. Tokio asked him to let it go. Hajime had been under a lot of stress lately too so why not enjoy it!

"After all the crap they did dinner is the least that they owe me," Tokio pointed out with a satisfied smirk and took a sip of her cocktail. The rest of the weekend was much the same. Everywhere they went their bills were paid for by some mysterious benefactor or the owner. Hajime was a little annoyed with it at first but Tokio shrugged it off and ordered the most expensive items on the menu. He followed her lead because she was right: a few meals and trinkets were the least that they owed her. Still, he decided he wouldn't be bringing her back here if he could avoid it. And after Hajime related what Jetta and Emily told him she was happy to agree with him.

Come Monday morning she was at the psychology department in Peterson AFB promptly at 8:00am for her appointment with the doctor. She poured her heart out to Dr. Lorraine Pantic. She thought Tokio could return to duty with the proviso that she has a few more sessions with her. Tokio agreed easily enough to the sessions. She had promised Hajime not to make him face the demon again and talking to a professional was something she should have done long ago rather than let pride govern her actions. But she felt though that she would rather serve the rest of her punishment. It felt like the right thing to do and being at home for a week might help speed the completion of their new home.

They got into an argument about the bills for the décor of their home. Hajime wanted to pay for everything but technically Tokio made more money than he did. He may be heir to millions but that didn't mean he access to them. If the pre-nup only let her keep what she spent on then she needed to be the one writing the checks.

"Whatever millions you're entitled to won't be yours until your mom is gone. Right now the big money maker is me!" she insisted angrily. The more in their lives she spent on the more she would be able to keep she tried reasoning.

"Think about it! As it stands if something happens to you I'll have to pay for my engagement ring or have it taken away," she argued. Hajime's eyes flashed with outrage. He turned away and grabbing his keys headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Tokio called out suddenly worried that she might've pushed him too far.

"I've gotta go do something! I'll be back later!" he growled and slammed the door behind him. She knew she had won the battle but she was worried of what desperate scheme he might concoct.

"Ugh! He is such a stubborn wolf!" she growled to herself in the apartment and went back to her dining table trying hard to concentrate on window coverings. Her eyes went to the door and her phone every five minutes or so waiting anxiously for Hajime to come back.

Hajime eventually came back but refused to say anything about what he'd been up to. He agreed that he would not argue about her writing the checks any more. His calm acceptance was strangely worrisome but she decided she would let it go for now and accept the rare win. There were other things to worry about any way. When she returned to work her lab work was backed up and catching up sucked every ounce of energy from her. Hajime went on a mission that Monday and was scheduled to be gone until Friday so she decided to stay late and pull a few double shifts to get herself caught up before he returned.

Tokio got home very late and found a message on her answering machine from Oume. So she changed out of her uniform and she fired up her computer and started up her video conference program. After a few minutes Oume was on the line. They talked for a little while mostly about the recent shopping trip Oume had invited her on. Mrs. Kujacu was in New York for some business and the end of her business trip coincided with Tokio's suspension. So she joined her for a couple of days. Oume was complaining right now about Hajime's friends constantly trying to strike a bargain with her to get their hands on the pre-nup. Tokio chuckled.

"Guilt drives them right now but they'll get over it," she assured her. It was nice of them to try but Tokio made a note to talk to Lisa soon and get them to back off. She didn't mind the document's existence. It was her shield and there was no better shield bearer than Mrs. Kujacu. Tokio was grateful for her assistance. Oume looked away from her computer suddenly and was quiet for a moment…a worried frown creased her brow.

"I'm sorry dear…I have to let you go. Mai will be home soon and my staff is out there breaking things. I better go and check on them. Go get some rest child. I'll call you soon," Oume replied looking very distracted. Tokio said her good byes hoping to talk to her soon. She yawned and headed straight to bed but couldn't stop thinking about the look on Oume's face before she signed off. She had tried to play it off but her instincts told her something was wrong. She sent Aoshi a text message to check on his aunt. He replied he was in LA at the moment but would send Yusuke by to check on her right now. Satisfied with Aoshi's response she decided to go to bed…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Aoshi frowned at Tokio's text. It wasn't like her to send messages in the middle of the night. Ever since the incident in Colombia he learned that Tokio's instinct for danger was not to be ignored. He promised her he would check and called Yusuke immediately. He found that Yusuke was already on his way to his aunt's house with a team in full gear. The intruder alarm had gone off at the house and Mai was missing. Aoshi headed out immediately…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Onward we go! Hopefully I can get some more up soon. Star Wars Celebration is in town again next week and I am sooooo excited! More fun to come soon! Thanks for your patience and for reading and reviewing.


	6. Family Troubles

Chapter 5: Family troubles

Oume sat in her study talking to Tokio via a video conference about their previous week. Oume had invited Tokio to visit her in New York while she was there last week. Tokio – having nothing else to do – got on Oume's private charter and spent a couple of days with her. It was very late in Colorado but it was early afternoon in Kyoto and Mai would be home from school soon. She was glad Tokio had been able to take her anger out on the right people. She was proud of her for not trying to get Hajime out of the pre-nuptial contract too despite having dealt with the naysayers so conclusively. She was a rational young woman after all and despite her kind nature she understood the ways of the world very well.

"I just wish Hajime's little hangers-on would stop pounding on my door! I'll never hand over that contract especially not to one of them! It is past time they realize it," Oume complained. Tokio chuckled and agreed saying again that she was glad to have it and was grateful once more for her assistance. Right now no one but Oume and Mai knew that contract had been burned. Mai was good at keeping secrets and once she gave the box to Hajime with its ashes she could be assured he would keep the secret as well.

"Guilt drives them right now but they'll get over it," she assured her. She proposed asking Victoria if she could step in and make them stop. Oume was about to agree but was distracted when she heard a crash. Her head came up in alert and she listened for the footsteps of one of the maids coming quickly to apologize for breaking something but nothing else happened. It wasn't like her staff to break things. And they most definitely would never neglect to send someone immediately to explain. She said her goodbyes to Tokio then and promised to talk again soon then signed off. She reached into a drawer in her desk and grabbed her gun.

'There is something wrong,' she thought feeling suddenly certain that there were intruders in her home. Civilians weren't allowed guns in Japan but the rules rarely apply to the rich. She was impressed that they had gotten past her security. They were likely professionals and it was a safe bet who hired them too. She took her shoes off and soundlessly made her way to the door and down the hallway. Being a ninja was in the blood after all and she took pride in it. She could hear now as a male voice questioned her frightened maid as to where her master was. To the girl's credit she said she didn't know and that perhaps Oume was in the garden. That maid had just brought her tea and knew quite well that Oume was still in her office upstairs.

'You're getting a raise,' thought Oume as she peeked slightly down the stairwell but though she couldn't see anything she could hear the intruders better. The interrogator ordered a pair to go check upstairs and the rest to spread out in the rest of the house. Calculating from the number of guards she kept at her house and the number of footsteps she heard on her hard wood floors she guessed there were at least 5 men inside the house.

"Do not let the old lady get away like you did the girl!" growled the interrogator. Oume felt several emotions at once. Fear for Mai's life, relief that she had escaped and pride that she had given professional hit men the slip. The least she could do was make sure they paid for going after her girl! The two finally came close to the stairwell and Oume didn't give them the chance to bring their weapons to bear. She shot the first in the face and the second man was hit in the collar bone but he managed to fire a shot at Oume that hit her arm. She groaned slightly but hurried down the stairs careful to take cover as she went.

She spotted one man in the living room with her maid. The butler was sprawled on the ground and from her hiding spot Oume couldn't tell whether he was alive or dead. She took careful aim and once more her bullet found its target and the man was down and out. She turned just in time to see a fist barreling towards her and she fired her gun once more. She felt another hit from the side that knocked the wind from her. There had been one more person in the living room that she did not see and he snuck up behind her when she whirled around to meet the assailant coming back from the kitchen area.

She tried to bring her gun back up but the man had her pinned. There was a commotion outside and more gunfire. Her security people must've managed to send out the intruder alarm to Aoshi's company. The world was spinning as the guy slammed her to the wall and her gun dropped to the ground. She kneed him in the groin hard and he buckled loosening his grip on her but before she could do anything else the man collapsed unconscious. Her maid had come up behind him and smashed a lamp on the back of his head knocking him out. Oume laughed.

"Well done Lynn," she said but the world didn't stop spinning and the area below her ribcage was hurting a lot. Lynn was talking to her fast with a very frightened look on her face. Oume felt dizzy and couldn't understand what the girl was trying to say. She felt herself slide slowly down to the ground. She touched her ribs and her hand came away wet and sticky. She looked at it and there was a reddish/black substance covering her hand. In a slow, detached way she realized that her last assailant had stabbed her. Lynn disappeared for a moment and returned talking very quickly into the phone. She could barely make out that Lynn was talking to the police telling them what happened and asking for an ambulance.

'Good girl,' she wanted to say but her mouth was dry and it was all she could do to stay conscious. Suddenly Aoshi's friend Yusuke Urameshi came into her field of vision and she knew the situation was under control now. Aoshi's friends were very strong and extremely loyal to Aoshi…she had nothing to worry about now. Her mind was full of thoughts of Mai and she prayed her daughter was safe as she allowed darkness to claim her…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Mai paused at a vending machine in the Quebec International Airport. Her legs felt stiff and her whole body ached from the long flight out of Japan. She felt safe now in the certainty that she had left her pursuers far behind.

'Coach really sucks!' she thought. Some thugs had shown up in her school to pick her up an hour early but Mai knew something was wrong the instant she laid eyes on them. Aside from the fact that she had no idea who they were; their fake Oniwaban uniforms had several errors on them that she noticed a mile away. She had rolled her eyes and dragged her feet when her mother made her go through kidnapping training last year but boy was she glad now that she did it. She took her preparations a step further recently though only because she hated losing to the new girl!

'If lame-o nerd girl Tokio can wander the world incognito at my age then how hard can it be?' Mai had thought thinking she would make herself disappear for a few days if anyone came to try and kidnap her. But she soon found that it was very hard. Acquiring fake ids wasn't as easy as Hollywood would have you believe. She managed to make a few fake ids but passing herself off as these fake girls was hard for Mai. She had been recognized several times on her way to the Tokyo international airport because of Hanna and Aoshi. She had to use her credit card for a disguise and some supplies but this was a mistake.

'Bastards found me in no time!' she remembered annoyed munching slowly on a candy bar she got out of the machine. She ditched her credit cards and cellphone after buying several plane tickets to different places in her name to lead them away then bought one ticket to Canada with the cash she always had using one of her fake ids. But that cash was almost gone now. How to get into and around the US would be difficult since she had almost no cash now and no credit cards to fall back on.

The airport security had been very suspicious of her traveling alone, her fake id said she was 18 but she looked so much younger. They had asked a lot questions and keeping her lies in line with the fake id had been tough. Over the last 24 hours her respect for Hajime's fiancée had gone up considerably. She was considering giving up on her little experiment and calling her mom because she just couldn't find a way to get into the US with so little money left. As luck would have it though she found a group of cheerful college students traveling back to the US from a vacation and managed to charm her way into their group. It was much easier to pass through customs with them. They were headed back to New York as part of a field trip from their school which was perfect for Mai.

'In New York I can restock at our apartment!' she thought cheerfully. Hajime's friends at Oniwaban Security would recognize her and let her in the apartment. She figured they might even be willing to help her get to her brother's house.

'Boy is my brother going to be surprised when I show up at his door!' she thought amused not caring at all about the many lectures she was sure to receive. She only cared about being better than Tokio! She wanted to prove that she could be just as resourceful and street-wise as Tokio.

'She's not _that_ special!' she thought proud of herself. Her prospects were looking up now as she crossed the border on a bus headed for Columbia University. She got out on the campus many hours later and exchanged emails with a few of the students she had traveled with. That leg of the trip had been quite enjoyable and one of the students told her which subway station to get off at to get to the Oniwaban offices in mid-town Manhattan near Times Square. But her heart dropped when she arrived at the building.

'Crap!' she cursed as a chill ran up her spine. There were emergency vehicles on the street and police officers running in and out of the building. She arrived just in time to see Hajime's friend - Eric - being wheeled out on a stretcher towards a waiting ambulance. For the first time since she left Japan she felt truly afraid. She ducked into a coffee shop to avoid the scene. This was no longer a fun game of hide-and-seek with greedy kidnappers or a test of her resourcefulness. She realized this was a full blown war on her family! Her parents and her uncle might've been attacked too she thought. She regretted ditching her cellphone now.

'My mom! Why didn't I call her? I'm such an idiot!' she cursed herself desperate now. She went to the periodicals stand by the cash register looking for a newspaper with Japanese news. She found one and leafing through it quickly she found an article about her mom. Their home in Kyoto had been attacked; her mother had been injured and the butler and several guards were killed. She cursed herself again for not calling. The attack happened a full hour after school officially let out for the day. She put the paper back quickly and left as the cashier became suspicious of her behavior. She went out into the street desperately trying to figure out what to do next.

'I could've warned her! I'm so stupid!' she cursed herself again. She realized now that she had been largely lucky. She figured she should never have left Japan and should have just headed straight for the offices of Oniwaban in Kyoto or Tokyo where most of Aoshi's friends were or gone to Los Angeles where she could find Victoria Stillwater or Aunt Emi or straight to Colorado where her brother was.

'But no! I had to be clever! Now I'm stranded here! Who knows who might be tracking me or what they'll do to me if they find me? I can't believe how stupid I am!' she berated herself. She walked quickly away from the scene and she had only gone up about a block when she reached the jumbo-tron in Times Square. The time on the screen read 1:30pm. She had no more than a dollar and some change left to her name. Calling Hajime or Tokio was pointless right now because they were both at work and there were no numbers to reach them at in their offices.

'And their not allowed their cellphones inside the base,' she remembered her anxiety rising with every second. She walked into a book store trying to calm herself thinking she could wait until her brother got home and call him. Emi's phone went straight to voicemail when she tried to call her from a payphone outside and with that failed call went most of her change. She grew more and more desperate. She wandered the store trying to think of a way through this situation.

'I didn't plan this very well at all,' she thought dismally as she wandered distracted through the store. She hit a life size cut out picture of a man holding a book and almost knocked it over. She recovered quickly and managed to catch it before it fell. But as she looked up at the roguish smirk of the man holding a book titled 'Heat Rises' she realized there was one more avenue she could go down. She raced out of the building and back towards the offices of Oniwaban Security Services…

* * *

'Perhaps she caught a case?' wondered Richard Castle as he sauntered past Detective Beckett's desk mildly surprised to find that she was not there. He walked to Capt. Montgomery who was waving him over. He smiled and cheerfully greeted Rick. Rick asked him where the detective was today. He had just come back from a meeting with his agent and wondered what he had missed.

"Beckett and Ryan are interrogating a teenager that said she had information about an attack at an office building near Times Square. Her ID is a fake and now she's refusing to say anything," the captain replied. He was heading over to the observation room to look in on the interrogation so Rick joined him. They entered quietly and found Detective Esposito standing behind the two-way mirror watching as his partner detective Ryan and Detective Catherine Beckett tried to get the unknown teenager to talk to them. Capt. Montgomery asked him how it was going.

"So far the only thing she's said is that she will only talk to Castle," Esposito replied sounding mildly annoyed.

"Me? Did she say why?" Castle exclaimed mystified. He looked at the girl. She was a very young Japanese girl. Her hair was long, cut in layers and wavy. She was dressed very simply in a pair of beat up old jeans and a black Mickey Mouse t-shirt. A blue windbreaker jacket was hung on the chair behind her and her eyes wondered the room with a mixture of mild interest and boredom on her face ignoring the questions Beckett and Ryan asked her. She looked to be about the same age as Alexis. Rick thought as he watched her bored expression that the girl looked somewhat familiar.

"We think she's just a fan of yours looking for some attention. Do you know her?" the captain asked interrupting Rick's observation of the girl. Rick frowned.

"I'm not sure…she looks familiar somehow," Rick began pensively. At that moment Beckett appeared to have reached the limit of her patience. She called the girl a fan-girl who just wants attention and threatened to lock her up for obstruction if she didn't start talking. The girl's head whipped around and she met Beckett's steely glare with a potent glare of her own. A light went on in Richard Castle's head then.

"I know who that girl is!" he exclaimed excitedly and raced to the interrogation room…

"How do you know the manager of Oniwaban Security? And how did you know who attacked him?" asked Ryan to the unknown girl. She had identified herself as Sakura Takagi but the only person with that name in the system that matched the information on the id had died in Mexico when she was five. The officers on the scene had taken her seriously because she knew the name of the manager of the company that was attacked and had given enough details to make her a convincing lead.

"Enough of this! We don't have time to play games with some fan-girl looking for an autograph! Tell me how you know who attacked Eric Trainer or I'll book you for obstruction!" demanded Detective Beckett sternly. Mai glared right back at Beckett not at all affected by the tough lady's glare. She could handle tough people with powerful glares easily. Her family was full of such tough guys and gals. It was the ones with soft eyes and happy voices that threw her off her game.

"Go ahead! But I'm not talking to you until I see him," she replied calmly answering Detective Beckett's glare with her own. Before the detectives could answer the door flew open!

"Mai! Mai Kujacu!" exclaimed Richard Castle as he burst into the room. He rushed to her and picked Mai up from her chair and hugged her tight for a second. He released her and looked her in the eyes. He had soft eyes and a cheerful voice.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you look just like your brother?" he added with a big smile on his face. Mai allowed herself to finally relax. All the fear and stress that had built up since those thugs attacked her and her family disappeared suddenly in one exhaled breath. She chuckled and smiled.

"Except I'm much prettier," she countered with a relieved laugh and he laughed too. She would be ok now she knew because her brother's pack would look out for her…

Mai sipped a hot chocolate that Rick Castle made for her as he explained who she was to the detectives and their boss. Mai was very surprised to find out that Tokio had called Rick Castle last night to ask him if he had seen Mai. Tokio had correctly surmised that Mai might turn up in New York and she might seek refuge with him since he was a friend of Hajime's and wasn't directly linked to Oniwaban.

'That big brain of hers is really something,' thought Mai as she sipped and listened. She finally understood why Aoshi and her mom liked the woman and why her brother loved her. It was for her brains not her looks and perhaps it was a trait worth emulating. The detectives gushed on how smart Mai had been to make her way to Castle. She found out that Oniwaban in LA had been attacked as well and LAPD had arrested two men at LAX who had been flagged in Japan by airport officials as her kidnappers. She was relieved to find out that Hajime's friend – Eric – had not been seriously injured.

"They were waiting for you there and over here Mai. It was smart of you to skip any of the places you're family owns," Det. Beckett noted solemnly.

"Mai's a smart girl just like her brother," Rick interjected proudly putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. The captain came out of his office finally and he smiled at Mai.

"I just got off the phone with NCIS, an agent by the name of Jethro Gibbs. He said your parents are fine and under heavy guard back home," he intoned solemnly. Mai let out a sigh of relief. Rick gave her shoulder a little squeeze.

"See! Everything's gonna be alright!" he reassured cheerfully. She nodded and smiled back at him and sipped some more of her chocolate.

'Of course it is. I didn't plan it so badly after all. I'm awesome,' Mai thought feeling the tension ebb away finally and her usual arrogance return.

"What's NCIS?" asked Detective Ryan. Mai opened her mouth to answer but detective Beckett beat her to it.

"The Naval Criminal Investigation Services they have jurisdiction over anything having to do with Navy and Marine Corp personnel and their families," the detective explained solemnly.

"Yea and since Haji is a marine captain I'm not surprised they stepped in. I bet they've been looking for Mai since she went missing," added Castle. Capt. Montgomery nodded his agreement before he continued.

"Agent Gibbs said that part of his team is coming to watch over you until your brother can come and get you," the captain continued solemnly adding that they would be taking her to her family's apartment in New York once they had a chance to secure it. They should be arriving within the next couple of hours. Mai nodded in agreement and added that Agent Gibbs was a friend of her brother's too and she had met him a couple of months ago at Tokio's birthday party.

"I think Mai needs to stay with me," Rick put in uncharacteristically solemn suddenly. He turned to Mai with a very serious look on his face.

"Mai, the people that are after your family don't know about your brother or anyone outside of Oniwaban that you might know. I'd rather we not take chances. You should stay with me and not go anywhere near that apartment until your brother gets here," he intoned seriously. Mai studied him for a moment then smiled. He had seemed like such a goofball at first but now she saw a fierce strength in him.

'I should expect by now my brother's people to not be what they appear at first,' she thought to herself. She easily agreed to stay with Mr. Castle saying her brother would most likely prefer it that way. Capt. Montgomery thought this was a safer arrangement for Mai given the violence with which the attackers had hit all the Oniwaban offices, her family's home and even Victoria Stillwater's mansion. Mai did add that she would need to get some of her things from the apartment.

"I have only one change of clothes and I don't have any money. They were tracking my credit cards so I had to ditch them," she explained.

"Your brother's fiancée has you covered there," Capt. Montgomery interjected "she's sending provisions for you with the NCIS agents," he concluded adding that he would send the agents to Castle's apartment when they arrived.

"Come on Mai! You can call your parents when we get to my place," Rick suggested cheerful again. So with Detectives Beckett, Ryan and Esposito in tow Mai left the 12th precinct with Mr. Castle dying to know exactly how Tokio had guessed she would come here and would have no money or clothes with her.

'That big brain of hers is gonna be tough to beat! But I'm getting closer,' she thought cheerfully feeling full of confidence from the successful conclusion to her experiment. She allowed Rick Castle to put his arm around her in a protective fatherly hold and left the precinct feeling pretty good about herself. She made a promise to herself that once she was in Colorado she would pump Tokio for all the information she could get out of her.

'Shouldn't be too hard,' thought Mai satisfied as they climbed into an unmarked police car and sped away to the Rick's home…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Oume hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. It was 4:30 am Friday morning in Kyoto and it was 3:30 pm Thursday in New York when Mai called her. Mai was safe and in the care of Hajime's strong honor-bound friends. She could not hope for a better situation for her daughter. Despite the pain from her injuries she allowed herself to relax.

The attacks had happened only in places where there were Shinomoris present. Kamo had been out and was completely oblivious to the attack and Mai's disappearance until he got home and found police officers all over the property. His parents and his sisters had not been bothered either. Victoria was attacked because most people believed Aoshi lived in her home when he was in Los Angeles but he and his father were safe at Hajime's mother's house. Victoria was extremely ruthless in the defense of her home. Neither Victoria nor Nightraven had used a weapon yet no attackers survived the attack on her home.

'And they call me scary!' thought Oume amused. According to reports Victoria herself had killed two men who had injured one of her guards. Nightraven had taken out all the rest on his own.

'Wonder what Mr. Nightraven's price might be,' she mused as she rifled through the mail thinking about how to bolster her security in the future. She laughed as she saw an invitation on the stack. It was postdated on Thursday and it was from Gozaburo. She opened it and laughed some more.

_I trust this note finds you in good health Mrs. Kujacu. I do hope to see you at my little gala Friday night. Gozaburo Kaiba._

The note was obviously intended as an insult since it was all over the news within minutes the assault on her house and the fact that she had been injured. In fact, the last person to hear of the assault was her husband.

'If he thinks me weak and that I will cower in my hospital bed - he is in for a very big surprise!' she thought viciously. She picked up her phone and called her trusty maid Lynn. The girl was with her parents now after being escorted home late last night by Oniwaban. She asked the girl if she would bring her some evening wear and to her delight Lynn agreed cheerfully.

"I'm so glad you are going mam! I saw Mr. Kaiba on the TV make a comment about your home invasion and he did a bad job at hiding how satisfied he was that you were hurt!" Lynn commented angrily. She swore she would bring her something extra beautiful to wear and if Oume would send her one of those nice fellows from Oniwaban to pick her up she would bring her jewelry and make up too and help her get dressed. Oume couldn't help but be amused and pleased by her enthusiasm. She agreed easily and sent the girl on her way.

'You're a keeper Lynn,' she thought as she called Yusuke – who was standing guard outside her room – and told him to send an escort to pick up Lynn.

At 8pm – ignoring her doctor's protests – she climbed into her helicopter on her way to Domino City. Kamo had refused to go at first. His ego was still bruised by being the last person to find out that Mai was missing and his home had been under attack. The media was giving him crap about it already but when she explained how their appearance at the party was meant to humiliate Kaiba and his partners – then he was all for it. The pilot made record time. Once they were at the helipad on the Shinomori Electronics building a limo awaited them.

"Make sure you mingle and let as many as possible know you were there," Oume instructed calmly as they pulled into the driveway at the Kaiba Mansion.

"Be memorable! Got it!" agreed Kamo enthusiastically. If there was anything Kamo and Oume had in common is their desire to have power over the people around them. Their methods were more alike than people realized: they both used people's emotions to control them. Kamo however was less successful than Oume and his attempt at having power over his wife by playing Hana against her cost his daughter her life in the end. He had pulled back his attempts since then.

"Let's hurry! I want to catch Kaiba by surprise," Oume instructed as Yusuke Urameshi opened the limo door for Oume and followed closely behind her and Kamo. They walked past the foyer without stopping at the guard on the door. They went straight to the ballroom where it was not hard to locate Gozaburo. He was having a wonderful time judging by his boisterous laughter. She and Kamo cut a bee line through the crowd most of whom would pause in mid-sentence shocked to see them there. She took note of the ones that smiled, bowed politely or reached out to greet her with relief and enthusiasm as she passed by.

"Good Evening Mr. Kaiba," she greeted elegantly. Gozaburo blanched at the sight of her and whatever he was going to say to the people he was speaking to - fled him! The people around him quickly disappeared though it was too late for them. Oume had taken notice of whom each one was – she would deal with each of them in turn. He sputtered incoherently as Kamo reached forward and shook his hand briskly and greeted him very loudly and cheerfully. Oume relished the look of shock on his face! Gozaburo finally composed himself.

"G-Good Evening Mr. and Mrs. Kujacu. I am pleased to see you could make it after the terrible events that befell your family this week," he stuttered at her trying to rally against Oume's triumphant arrival. Oume chuckled lightly.

"Oh Mr. Kaiba, I hope you didn't worry. It would take a lot more than a few clumsy thugs to disrupt our lives," Oume countered haughtily. Kaiba ground his teeth as he tried to keep up his smile.

"And absolutely nothing would keep us from one of your amazing parties," Kamo added smirking.

"But I heard that your daughter was missing," he shot back barely restraining his anger but Kamo just laughed along with Oume.

"Missing!? Where on earth did you hear that?" laughed Kamo loudly. Oume laughed in her special grating way.

"Indeed! My daughter is on holiday with some friends my dear Gozaburo!" Oume elaborated cheerfully. Kamo's face turned red with embarrassment and his anger was held barely in check between clenched teeth.

"She'd been planning it for weeks!" Kamo added laughing boisterously.

"Oh yes! I spoke with her this morning in fact. She's having such a delightful time!" Oume added casually smiling evilly at him.

"Speaking of good times – great party Gozaburo! You never disappoint!" Kamo put in cheerfully as he looked around the room at the shocked guests. He spotted someone he knew and waved calling out a loud and cheerful greeting. He offered to get himself and Oume a drink and with a nod and a smirk from his wife he took off without waiting for a reply from Gozaburo. Oume smirked amused as Kamo greeted cheerfully as many as he could on his way to the bar following faithfully his wife's advice.

"I second that," she replied amused as she watched Kamo move through the room. Gozaburo said nothing as he made a gesture of summoning for someone standing outside of her peripheral vision. Gozaburo could no longer stand alone against the vindictive Mrs. Kujacu. He needed a shield and summoned the only one he could reach seeing all his guards were too busy keeping a wary eye on Oume's Oniwaban guards. It took every ounce of discipline and self-control to keep her expression neutral.

'You are a coward Gozaburo! To hide behind a child! You will pay!' she thought angrily plotting vicious vengeance on the man yet one look at the boy who boldly stepped forward to greet her counteracted the sudden bout of anger that had surged in her. She smiled at him.

"This is my son Seto," he introduced tersely. To her endless amusement young Seto glared at him in annoyance.

"Good Evening Mrs. Kujacu. It is a pleasure to meet you. Welcome to my home," he greeted politely with a bow.

"You forget my son! I am the master of the house!" Gozaburo scornfully corrected. It took every ounce of self-control in Oume not to slap the man for speaking angrily to her son!

"Then why father, did you not greet your guest properly?" Seto rejoined with just the right touch of sarcasm. Gozaburo's face went red once more with embarrassment and anger.

"Don't mind my son. He's adopted and still doesn't quite know his place," Gozaburo growled shooting a scolding glare at Seto. But to Oume's surprise the boy simply rolled his eyes in annoyance. Seto's defiance allowed Oume to compose herself.

"It's painfully obvious that he's adopted Gozaburo. The boy has good looks, sophistication and intelligence. Traits he couldn't possibly have inherited from you or any of your ancestors. No amount of tutoring could make you look and sound like anything but a gorilla in an expensive suit just like all the Kaiba men before you," she rejoined haughtily. Gozaburo turned bright red with anger but whatever he growled at her in response was lost to Oume as Seto chuckled slightly in response. The world stopped for a moment as she soaked in that smile and burned into her memory the sound of his laughter.

'So much like his father's!' she realized with shock. It took every ounce of will to keep her face neutral as Gozaburo turned to glare at Seto. Seto just rolled his eyes and he smirked once more at her. To Gozaburo's rising embarrassment Seto boldly stepped towards her.

"As this is a party Mrs. Kujacu may I have the honor of a dance?" he asked politely but there was a tiny mischievous smirk on the boy's face that made her heart leap with pure joy.

"You certainly may young Mr. Kaiba," she replied and it took every ounce of her will not to reach out and hold the boy tight in her arms and never let go. She took his hand and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor. As they walked towards the dance floor she burned into her memory everything about him. He was tall for his age and she figured he must be tall amongst his calls mates too. He had his father's light brown hair. There was an occasional little screech in his voice that was tell-tale of the onset of puberty and his face was exactly like his father. But his eyes were cool blue like hers with a ruthless intensity in them.

'That comes from my side. Jamie's brown eyes sparkled constantly with a bit mischief,' she thought feeling a twinge of sadness remembering Jamie as they joined the dancers. They danced to a waltz more slowly than the dance required but she understood why he was so careful when he spoke.

"It was not good for you to come here Mrs. Kujacu. Your injuries could be aggravated," he began with true concern in his voice. A little frown of worry creased his face for a moment and it melted her heart completely.

'Such a sweet boy!' she thought joyfully. She smiled at him. She was dancing and talking with her son and as she had once hoped… he did not hate her despite him living with a family of sworn enemies of the Shinomori Clan.

"Do not worry young man. This is not my first battle with Gozaburo and Takeda. I will be alright," she replied graciously and she smiled at him.

"Your concern however gives me hope for peace between our families someday. I thank you for that," she added softly. He nodded respectfully but his brow was still creased with doubt.

"I hope you don't mind my asking but why do the Kaibas hate your family? Gozaburo won't give me a satisfactory answer," Seto asked his brow furrowed questioningly. Oume smiled happy that the boy was clever enough to want his own answers. The music stopped and her answer had to wait as Seto moved her away from the dance floor and allowed Oume to greet a few more people. He finally pulled out a chair for her at a table on the edge of the dance floor and sat next to her. Yusuke stood nearby watching the crowd but listening to the conversation.

"He can't give you one. It would be extremely embarrassing for him to do so," Oume began as Seto repeated his question. They were interrupted once more as Kamo arrived with Oume's drink. She sipped a plain sparkling water as she introduced Seto. The boy showed his impatience and his youth as he fidgeted annoyed that his coveted answer was once more delayed.

"Adopted huh? Makes sense, you're too good-looking to be Kaiba's kid," remarked Gozaburo with a smirk. His remark – though somewhat uncouth – seemed to please Seto.

"Mr. Kaiba was asking me about the root of our family feud," Oume continued and Seto leaned in eagerly. Kamo laughed.

"That idiot Kaiba forgot the basics! If you stick your hand up the skirt of a girl whose not yours her boyfriend's gonna come kick your ass kid! And that's just old man Shinomori did!" Kamo blurted out and laughed loudly. Oume rolled her eyes in annoyance but said nothing. Several people had heard Kamo's uncouth but truthful account of things and Oume knew Gozaburo would suffer a social backlash for it. Kamo didn't stick around to see the result of his abbreviated history though as he quickly spotted some other place to go make himself memorable. He barely excused himself and rushed away.

"I apologize. Tact is not my husband's strongest suit," she added as he hurried away "but in a nutshell that is where it started. My great-grandfather broke his hands for his trespass on my great-grandmother and he was never able to have full use of them again," she elaborated. She added that over the years the families had never thrown more than insults at each other.

"However, my brother sought to make peace many years ago with Gozaburo's late father and join in a business venture with him. Takeda befriended Gozaburo around that time," she began. She lowered her voice a tad as she continued.

"Kaiba Senior died in an accident the week before he was to meet my brother to formalize their partnership and Takeda lost no time in fanning the flames of dissent once more," Oume concluded. Seto's eyes went wide with the implication of foul play; then was quiet for a moment mulling things over.

"That happened over a hundred years ago. That has nothing to do with me. Stupid, he could've made so much money," he mumbled thoughtfully. A light seemed to shine suddenly in his eyes and Oume could tell the wheels were turning in his brilliant young mind. Through her many connections she knew other things about her son. He was an electronics genius and had already acquired a foreign degree for it. The Kaiba bylaws didn't allow him to take control of Kaiba corp. because of his age. But from what she had been able to learn she doubted that this would stop him for long. She felt certain that Seto was planning something against Gozaburo…something big!

'And Gozaburo is never going to see it coming!' she thought pride and joy raging through her. She said hello to someone as they passed by her table pretending not to be aware of Seto's ruminations. After a couple of minutes Seto snapped himself out of his thoughts and stood up offering to escort her around the party so she could say hello to her other acquaintances.

"Yes, that would be fine," she agreed calmly and they walked together through the party-goers. Kamo joined them on occasion and Oume was surprised that Kamo would take such a liking to the very serious young Seto. He would ask her questions about the people in the party and Oume was pleased by how subtle and business-minded his questions were.

'Oh Adeena, if you could see him now,' she thought feeling both sad and extremely grateful to that woman for the wonderful job she had done raising Seto. Too soon it seemed that the time for her to leave had come. She approached Gozaburo to say goodbye but by now the man was so angry for being upstaged at his own party that he barely managed a goodbye.

"Seto, escort the guests out!" he growled and turned away. He left the room without speaking to anyone else. Seto rolled his eyes once more at Gozaburo then turned once more to Oume and Kamo. As far as Oume was concerned he more than made up for Gozaburo's lack of manners. As she got into her limo she marveled at the wonderful turn this week had taken for her. The week had started out horribly with Mai's disappearance and the all-out assault on her home.

'But it ended beautifully,' she thought happily. The painkillers had worn out long ago but she hardly felt any pain. Joy such as she hadn't known in years coursed through her. She laughed feeling that the happiness inside of her could not and should not be contained. She noticed then that Kamo was laughing too.

"I know right! Priceless!" he exclaimed laughing. She laughed again but she had no idea what he had been referring to. Kamo had been speaking to her about his shenanigans during the party but she was so absorbed in thinking about Seto that she had not heard a word he said.

'Let him think what he wants. There's no harm in it,' she thought playing along. But she had to make sure her precious secret was safe so she decided to test the waters.

"So what did you think of Gozaburo's son?" she asked feeling a slight revulsion at having to call her precious boy _that_ and it showed on her face. Kamo misinterpreted the look on her face.

"Kid seems alright. He doesn't like his old man. I think he'll turn out better and we might be able to put this whole family feud thing away for good. Don't you think so?" Kamo began earnestly. He went on talking about the way the boy had been so polite and eager to learn from her and how obvious it was that the boy had no respect for Gozaburo. Oume was surprised by the defense Kamo suddenly mounted.

"This whole feud thing has to end already. It's gone on long enough. Maybe this kid's the one to do it. Let's give him chance ok," Kamo concluded solemnly. Oume pretended to be mulling over his reasoning but inside she jumped for joy.

"Of course you're probably right Kamo," she began solemnly "but I'm afraid the ones you'll have to convince are Aoshi and my brother though. You know I have no influence on them," added in slightly absent-minded tone. She pulled out her phone and pretended to look through her emails. Kamo puffed himself up feeling proud that he was right.

"Don't worry. I'll talk to Aoshi and Hannya. Hannya's big on leaving the kids out of grown-up fights. I'll talk to them," Kamo insisted in an important tone. Oume nodded but she knew she had to be careful now and make sure not to show too much interest in the subject of Gozaburo's adopted children. So she changed the subject and talked about the house repairs and her leaving to the USA.

She would meet Mai at the house in Colorado. She needed a safe place to recover from her injuries. Normally she would hate being so close to her stepson and his clan but this week had brought her into very close proximity with her mortality. She'd had her brushes with death since Aoshi started his campaign against Takeda but she had never feared for Seto as long as Jamie and Adeena were alive and far away from her. And now that Mai was getting closer to her brother and his new family she would get farther and farther from danger.

'But if I die no one will be there to pull those boys out when the blows finally come in Gozaburo Kaiba's way,' she realized with dread. She kept her face neutral as once more she was reminded of all the awful circumstances that put both Seto and Mokuba in harm's way. The thought terrified her though because she did not know how far Aoshi would push his vendetta.

'I will need an ally for my secret or two perhaps,' she thought turning her mind to how she would approach this problem. Emi had no love for Jamie. Jamie had set up Emi with Kamo as a dare to his buddy to see if Kamo could get prudish Emi into bed with him. Then later he mocked her when Kamo dumped her and rubbed it in her face that she had just been used.

'Jaime was awful to Emi but Hajime's honor code will make him want to help Seto and Mokuba regardless of what their father was. Tokio will absolutely help me. I can trust them both to keep my secret too,' she thought as she agreed out loud to Kamo staying behind to oversee the repairs on the house and the updating of their security while she and Mai were away. She instructed Yusuke to have the jet prepared as she would be leaving for Colorado as soon as she returned to Kyoto…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Richard and Alexis Castle stood a little ways apart from Hajime and Mai as they greeted each other. He put his arm around his daughter feeling pretty good about the resolution of this drama and his role in it.

'He has the look of a man who just woke up from a nightmare,' Rick thought feeling a pang of sympathy as he looked upon Hajime's relieved face. He wondered again where Hajime was that he had not heard at all about his sister's disappearance until this morning. He observed the curious fact that there was no sunburn on Hajime yet Mai had mentioned him going often on missions. Missions that were dangerous enough to bring him home injured.

'If he was somewhere in the desert or the jungle he would have a tan,' he mused absently as brother and sister greeted each other with equal parts joy and relief.

"He seems different dad…" Alexis thought aloud.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked pulling his thoughts away from the outlandish theories popping up in his head about Hajime's classified exploits.

"I can't put my finger on it but he just seems…stronger?…calmer?…I'm not sure what it is?" Alexis began but didn't get to finish her thought. Hajime finally looked up at them and moved quickly towards them. He smiled relieved shaking Rick's hand vigorously first then releasing him to hug Alexis.

"Thank you Rick; you don't know how grateful I am for all of your help," Hajime began with obvious relief in his voice.

"You would do the same for me," Rick replied with sincerity.

"In a heartbeat," Hajime answered solemnly. Rick smiled, in this Hajime had never seemed to change.

'He is so serious,' Rick thought amused as he watched him hug and thank Alexis.

"We had so much fun!" Alexis added cheerfully.

"Oh yea! I loved hearing all about my big brother The Flash!" Mai teased and laughed with Alexis. Hajime chuckled too as he moved to hug Martha – Rick's mother.

"I hope I'll see you all at the wedding," he added now feeling relieved and grateful towards his friends.

"Oh darling! We wouldn't miss it for the world," Martha replied with the dramatic flair that was her calling card.

"Try and stop us!" Rick added jovially. Hajime smiled put his arm around his sister.

"Tokio seems like a really nice person and she dropped off the invitation in person. How could we say no?" added Alexis with a big smile. Hajime knew Tokio had gone to the 12th precinct to look for Rick Castle the week before while she was on suspension. Tokio had explained that upon meeting her Rick insisted she go out and have dinner with him and his family. He was curious now what they thought of her.

"She seems like a good change for you," Rick added solemnly.

"A real woman is what you need in your life darling and she seems that and more!" Martha declared. Hajime smiled.

"Pfft! She's definitely better than all the skanks and weirdoes my brother was always hooking up with," Mai teased. Alexis cringed but she nodded in agreement.

"I only met a couple of them but yea I totally agree with Mai. Tokio seems way better," Alexis added wrinkling her face in dislike. Hajime cringed thinking of all the bitchy exes that littered his past and hoped once more he would never run into them again. But he was happy that his friends liked his Tokio and said so to them.

"We better get going. Your mom should have arrived by now. Tokio was gonna meet her at the airport," he said to Mai. Mai and Alexis hurried up the stairs to get Mai's things all the while chatting cheerfully about getting together again sometime and keeping in touch with each other. Martha excused herself to follow the girls saying she wanted to make sure Mai didn't forget anything.

"Our house will be finished soon and Tokio and I will be moving in next month. You should bring the family down and visit sometime soon. You have a big following on the base you know," Hajime invited as he watched the girls run up the stairs in Rick's two-level condo; chattering happily.

"Maybe I might extend my next book tour in your direction," Rick replied pensively but his eyes were centered on Detective Beckett. She was talking quietly by the door with Agent Ziva David from NCIS. This didn't surprise Hajime; he'd known Rick for a long time now. If his books were any indication, Rick had strong feelings for the very hardworking detective.

"Of course I understand if you're too busy here," Hajime added with a little knowing smirk.

"What? No! No. She's seeing someone…very serious," Rick stammered quickly catching on to the suggestion in Hajime's tone. Right at that moment the detective turned and smiled at Rick and there was something in that smile that went beyond friendship. Rick smiled back and Kate Beckett excused herself from Ziva and walked over to him and Hajime. In that instant Hajime saw a bond between them that was very strong. Rick was aware of it but he was fairly certain that Kate Beckett was not. Hajime was confident this wouldn't be the case for long.

"I don't think that's gonna be problem," said Hajime before the detective reached them. Rick didn't get a chance to ask him what he meant since Kate had finally reached them.

"Time to go; your people are ready for you captain," she announced with a smile.

"Detective Beckett, I thank you again for all your help. Please thank your captain for me," Hajime intoned very solemnly as he shook her hand.

"We're glad we could help. I will pass it along captain Davila," Detective Beckett replied equally solemn. Rick smiled and turned to run up the stairs and get the girls to hurry up. The girls finally made their way down chatting cheerfully about nothing in typical teenage girl fashion. Rick hurried down after them.

"We'll come down soon to visit," promised Rick once more adding that he would email him the details once he spoke to his agent and his publisher about his next book tour.

"Let me know when and I'll pass the word on the base," Hajime returned jovially but turned solemn once more as they all turned to leave. Everyone exited the apartment and headed towards the elevators but Hajime pulled Rick Castle back for a moment.

"Rick, I want you to know I'm really proud of what you do with Detective Beckett but I also know it's dangerous. Should you ever need me all you have to do is call," Hajime intoned very solemnly.

"Aoshi said almost the exact same thing Thursday afternoon," Rick replied with a chuckle "I promise I will call the two of you first," he added more solemnly. Hajime nodded very solemnly.

"Very good! I'll make sure he follows up too. Mai got into this mess because of him," he added with an angry growl as they walked once more towards the elevators.

"Ah… yes. Revenge – that cold yet delectable dish which so many search for! The great thespian Shakespeare warned us all where it ends and yet people can't seem to stop themselves from going after it," mused Rick aloud but there was a touch of sadness in his voice and he cast a glance at detective Beckett. Hajime wondered what that was all about but decided that he would leave this part of their conversation for another day.

"I will come to see you soon," Rick promised once more. Hajime nodded and smiled.

"I'll hold you to it," Hajime replied as they got into the elevator. As they headed out the girls were discussing in a very serious manner why they thought that Kenshin was not faster than Hajime. He smirked amused as they were coming up with a fairly convincing argument starting with the point that Kenshin's speed petered out after 2000 meters. Detective Ryan was arguing against them but the girls were doing a good job of keeping him from winning the argument.

"Looks like you have your own fan club," pointed out Rick amused. Hajime laughed happy that his sister was safe and he might be able to argue now for her to stay with him for a while.

'At least a few weeks… I'm sure her school would accommodate her missing a few weeks with her grades,' he thought feeling good about how well everything was falling in to place in his life…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Oume admitted that she was impressed. She had always doubted that Tokio could fit in at all in the military since she had such a gentle disposition.

'But the girl has proven me wrong,' she thought proudly as she watched Tokio order her staff. They moved like a well oiled machine without that slight touch of fear that she had always thought necessary to make people respect and obey. Oume was at the hospital at Peterson AFB today where Tokio was running a few more tests before allowing her to leave. Two weeks had gone by now since she arrived in Colorado and Oume was ready to go home and help Aoshi in his campaign against Takeda and Gozaburo once more. Tokio however refused to release her from her care until she was satisfied that Oume's injuries had healed sufficiently for Tokio to let go.

'Oh if only Hanna had listened to you more child,' she thought with sadness as Tokio continued examining more charts and looking over the results. After what seemed like hours to Oume Tokio was finally satisfied and both she and Tokio returned to Aoshi's house in Colorado Springs. She noticed her luggage was being loaded into a limo. Mai was waiting for her reading a book in the main study when they arrived. She was glad that she had decided to transfer to a school in California. Nightraven offered her a chance to be Tokio's replacement as his assistant. He was impressed with the way she avoided the kidnappers. No safer and more agreeable position could she hope for Mai!

'Now I need a way to talk to Hajime alone and I can complete my plans,' thought Oume worriedly. How to approach Hajime without attention had been a problem. Aoshi was never far away from Oume during her stay here in Colorado and it was only early this morning that he finally left the house for one of his "Destroy Takeda and his friends" missions. Hajime was outside talking to Agent Gibbs who was still around looking after them. Tokio had explained that a personal tragedy made her friend particularly protective of young girls in danger.

"You know mom…I was thinking about your little Christmas gift for my brother and I don't think you should give it to him then," Mai began in a soft serious tone as her mother entered the study. Oume looked at her daughter with a curious frown.

"What do you mean?" asked Oume wondering if her daughter had a solution to her problem.

"I mean, that if you give it to him as a gift he's gonna be suspicious of your intentions and always wonder when you're going to ask him to do something horrible for you in repayment," Mai explained as she put her book down. Oume smiled at Mai. Her daughter was ruthless and practical girl. She was so proud of her!

"I thought of the same thing so I was hoping to give it him some time in the past week and tell him that it was a gesture of gratitude for him and his friends taking care of you," Oume began as she joined her daughter on the couch. A partial truth but the time was not right for Mai to know about Seto and Mokuba Kaiba.

"Yea that would solve your problem but I bet you haven't been able to speak to him about it because of the Aoshi-shaped shadow you've had for the past week," Mai added annoyed. She had spoken very little to Aoshi during their stay in Colorado. At Tokio's urging she had finally vented her anger at Aoshi for making her mother - as Mai put it - "his bullet sponge" and suggested - in no nice a way - that he start taking his own bullets from now on.

"Do you have a suggestion?" Oume asked watching her daughter carefully. She understood her daughter's anger. Aoshi was a hard target for his enemies these days. He had become a formidable warrior, his father was well protected and no slouch on the warrior department and his mentors - Victoria and Nightraven - were scary to say the least. That made her the easiest target to hit in the Shinomori family and was often subject to assassination attempts. She was not blind to the dangers but she could not stop helping Aoshi – not until they paid for her Hanna's death!

"Oh yea! I can get Tokio to send him your way and distract the other shadows while you guys talk. I can give you at least a good twenty or thirty minutes," Mai added confidently.

"Perfect! That should be plenty," Oume agreed as she got up from the couch and moved to the desk. Mai got up and hurried out of the room. Oume unlocked her briefcase and from a secret compartment she pulled out a small device and Adeena's diary. She stared at Seto's pictures and stroked once more the lock of baby hair in the book. It would be hard to part with her only link to her son but it was no longer safe in her possession. Less than five minutes passed when Hajime was entering the study. He noted Oume's white noise device activated on the desk and frowned. The device was used by her when she wanted to make sure that listening devices could not record her conversations.

"Would you close the door please?" Oume asked him solemnly. Hajime did so without question and moved to the desk and sat across from her. She placed in front of him a small wooden box and asked him to open it. Hajime did so and for a moment he was confused by the black ashes in the red velvet lined box. Then his eyes went wide.

"Is this what I think it is?" he asked shocked.

"Yes, Tokio's prenuptial agreement… I must be quick. I will not insult you with a thank you for taking care of your sister. I am aware that you thought of it as a duty your honor demanded of you. However, the content of this box is a payment for a favor I must ask of you," Oume began solemnly. Without hesitation she handed the book to Hajime.

"Many years ago I had an affair that led to the birth a baby boy. To keep him safe his father took him away and I faked his death," Oume began. She explained that her lover married not long after her birth and his wife took on the role of mother for her baby.

"A role she relished as you will see for yourself in the pages of her diary. The diary was written in a dead Egyptian dialect," Oume continued pointing to the diary in his hands.

"It took me a while to decipher it but I found a manuscript by a Dr. Daniel Jackson that helped me translate it," she commented handing him a copy of the manuscript she had found.

"I should be surprised but I totally am not," Hajime replied with a frown. "I assumed you took precautions to keep him and his father from being linked to you. So what's changed and what do you need from me?" Hajime asked as he took the manuscript.

"Some very tragic circumstances have left him and his younger brother orphaned," Oume added solemnly and Hajime was a bit surprised by the emotion that slipped into Oume's voice for a moment.

"I would've thought you would have taken them in then," Hajime commented in a serious tone. He paged through the book hiding his surprise at finding that the book was written in Goaul'd. He pretended only to be looking at the pictures in the book though he noticed that there were some Japanese characters that kept popping up on the pages.

"Would that I could…I distanced myself to make sure Adeena and the boys would be safe so by the time I was aware of their deaths the boys had already been adopted by the worst possible person in the world: Gozaburo Kaiba," Oume replied sadly.

"Well that's both serendipitous and pretty darn crappy! I assume Gozaburo doesn't know his relation to you," Hajime noted knowing Oume would be cautious with her only son. Say what you will Hajime knew Oume loved her children and after Hanna's death she was willing to go to any extreme to protect what she had left. That Mai was going away with Night and she was asking _him_ for help with her secret child was proof enough for him.

"Yes, and there is more you must know. The father of my son Seto was Jamie Yamaguchi. I don't know how much your mother might have said of him…"

"Oh she said enough!" Hajime interrupted her brusquely but whatever angry remark he was going to make died away as he looked at the photo of Jamie's two children. He exhaled loudly as the anger that had sprouted in his eyes vanished.

"Poor kids…you probably didn't find out about them because your idiot husband was too busy drinking and whoring to bother checking in with his former partner in crime. If I remember correctly Jamie became a noted photographer in the late eighties and early nineties and too respectable for that idiot Kamo to hang out with," Hajime remarked bitterly.

"Yes and in the end the ones that suffer for our crimes are the innocents," Oume noted and the pained look on her face softened Hajime's anger towards her. He picked up the box containing the ashes of Tokio's agreement.

"Even if Seto's father was Jackass – I mean Jamie – Yamaguchi I will help Seto but I'm sure you knew that already. What do you need me to do?" Hajime countered calmly. Quickly she handed Hajime several more documents and some contact information for a lawyer in the US handling the estate. She also explained about their greedy relatives and that she had made sure that they knew nothing about her or her relation to Jamie or Seto when she took back the boys' inheritance.

"I can't pull the boys away from Gozaburo without putting them in danger but if Aoshi's vendetta looks like it might harm the boys you might have a better chance of protecting them without exposing them as Shinomori," Oume put in and she continued to surprise Hajime as now a tone of desperation was added to the many emotions she had let slip. Hajime nodded. She quickly explained that she had reason to believe that once Gozaburo was out of the picture Seto would have no interest in continuing the Shinomori/Kaiba feud.

"Wait and watch for a chance to move in on the boys. I can still do something to keep them out of Aoshi's line of fire for now. I'll have to tell Tokio about this though," Hajime replied already formulating in his mind the arguments he would make to stall any direct attacks on Gozaburo Kaiba.

"Tokio is kind and noble but she is a _very_ practical woman. She will understand what needs to be done. Treat her well Hajime," Oume added and there was a slight hint of a threat in that last bit. Hajime smirked a little.

"She really is chink in your armor isn't she?" Hajime noted amused "Don't worry…now I really can protect her completely!" Hajime countered looking at the ash-filled box with relief and joy.

"Mai doesn't know about Seto, right? Does she know about the agreement?" he asked. It had been Mai who sent him to the study to talk to her mom after all.

"Mai knows nothing about Seto. She assumes that I burned the document out of gratitude towards Tokio. She was there for me at a difficult time as a true friend," Oume replied and explained how she came in to possession of Adeena's diary and the circumstances under which her friendship with Tokio had flourished.

"Well I would say she is a chink in my armor too but let's face my old armor was a piece of garbage and I chucked that crap away when I fell in love her!" Hajime countered with a chuckle "the armor she gave me in exchange is way better," he added staring at the little box.

"Good, I leave them to you then," Oume replied with a sad smile staring at Adeena's diary. She took a deep breath then stood abruptly from the desk. She closed up her briefcase.

"Go on towards your car. Gibbs is waiting for you and I have to get this stuff into my car without it being seen," Hajime added as they walked towards the door together.

"Mr. Gibbs is a very capable man. Do you suppose he'd be willing to work for me? I could use people with his talent in my new security force," Oume commented as they headed out.

"Not a chance. He loves his job. There is no amount of money you can offer the guy to make him change his mind," Hajime replied. They parted ways without speaking another word about the agreement that they had just made. He thought as he headed out to his car that the way he regarded Oume had changed.

'Understanding breeds compassion. Try to understand her and you might like her too,' Tokio had once said to him as her way of explaining why she liked Oume. He wouldn't say that he liked her but he couldn't hate her anymore. She was willing to be the family's bullet magnet so that Aoshi and Hannya could be free to campaign against Takeda. And she was not above asking for help when her children were in danger. He couldn't help but respect that.

'And she loves Tokio too so she can't all bad,' Hajime thought knowing that from this day forward he would keep a low profile eye on his little brothers Seto and Mokuba…

* * *

When I started writing this chapter I remembered something I heard in Venezuela. My 6th grade teacher had been told in college that it didn't matter what success she achieved academically because she would still be considered a failure if she had no husband or children. Her own mother had said this to her! How awful must it have been for ambitious and ruthless women like Oume to hear things like that. My mother in law was a very militant feminist and I wonder now if she was a victim of such awful statements that modern girls rarely. Brooding on my mother in law and the way she was brought on this desire to explore Oume's character rather than leave her as a one dimension villain. A lot of people saw my mother in law as a scary, pushy and downright mean old lady but I saw her sing to my sons and teach them to make arts and crafts and take them on fun little outings. She taught me how to make american cookies and how to write an irresistible resume! So the story never has just two sides as they say. There is always some other angle we've neglected to see.

It wasn't until she passed on that I realized she was the root of my desire to truly understand Oume.

Thank you for your patience and for reading and reviewing.


	7. Interludes

**Disclaimer: **Do not own Stargate or Rurouni Kenshin...just doing this for fun...yada yada etc...you guys know the drill! :-)

* * *

**Interludes**

* * *

Jetta got out of her car and headed in to the police station late Saturday morning. Emily was supposed to her meet later for lunch. A trespasser had been arrested at the Janeway Mansion and Jetta had been hoping for a chance to finally speak openly with this particular detainee. She entered the police station and found her partner Vaz with his arms across his chest smirking triumphantly. He waved her over and then said something to the young woman handcuffed on the chair in front of her desk. The woman turned quickly to look in Jetta's direction. There was a look of hope and desperation on her face.

"Ms. Daniali Sartori! What a pleasant surprise! What can I do for the future Mrs. Peters?" Jetta greeted the woman sarcastically as she reached her desk. She gave a nod to her partner and he undid the handcuffs. The woman flinched and looked away. Jetta took a seat and leaned back on her chair waiting for Dania to look up again. When she did tears shone in her eyes and her mouth was tightened in anger.

"Nobody ever bothered to tell me! How was I supposed to know?" she complained bitterly. She massaged her wrists and her arm wincing in pain. Jetta noticed then that she had some angry bruises on her right arm. Oniwaban Security had been rough in her apprehension. It was no surprise to her since she knew that most of the high rank employees of Oniwaban Security were good friends of Tokio.

"I knew she would say this bullshit…" Vaz growled disgusted. Jetta just shook her head.

"Are you stupid? The crosshairs were on everyone who knew her! Had anyone said anything it was not just our lives but the lives of the people we love that would get hacked!" Jetta growled at her.

"Watch next she's gonna say "well why didn't my parents say anything" you'll see," spat out Vaz disgusted. Dania looked away and it was painfully obvious that was her next defense. A little part of her still doubted what she had seen with her own eyes. The answer was obvious, her father worked for a construction firm that depended heavily on the big contracts senator John Peters sent their way. They fled town when Takako told them what was in store for anyone who tried to help Tokio. Fearing that their daughter would refuse to stop talking to her friend they left town but the danger followed them like it did everyone else who fled. But they did too good a job of shielding their daughter from the truth.

"Why were you at the Janeway Estate?" Jetta questioned staring her down like any common criminal.

"I needed to talk to her…I heard she was in town…I just wanted to talk to her," Dania stammered uncertain. She wasn't even sure what she wanted to say to Tokio if she saw her.

"And say what: "I'm sorry I didn't call you but I was too busy sleeping with the guy who was beating and starving you" is that it?" Jetta retorted angrily. Dania flinched and looked away. The truth was she wanted to see Tokio to ask her if it was all true. She had told other people she wanted to apologize about what Chris did to her. But under the unflinching glares of her old classmates - Vaz and Jetta - she realized that what she had really intended to do was defend herself.

"Face it Daniali. Deep down you always knew that Chris was a monster. You always knew that what he was telling you and your buddies was bullshit! But you were so wrapped up in your little fantasy with Prince Charming you didn't care. You just took his word for it and the whole world be damned," Jetta threw back accusingly. The tears flowed down her face and she could not look her old friends in the face.

"I just didn't know…" she whimpered sobbing softly now.

"Because you didn't want to," growled Vaz as he moved to Jetta's computer. He input a few commands and a video popped up.

"This video came from a surveillance camera in a police station in LA," Jetta explained as she turned the monitor towards Daniali. Vaz tapped a few more commands as the video began. It did a close up on Chris as he waited at a bench for his girlfriend who was rushing eagerly towards his arms. Dania's eyes went wide. She remembered this incident! She saw herself hurry through the crowded station and instantly she was transported to that moment in time almost three years…

_Her eyes scanned the crowd looking only for the face of the man she loved. He had called her at their hotel saying that he was in a police station and needed her to pick him up. He had not said why he was there but she was so worried. His mother told her that he had been mugged in California a few times and she didn't like him coming here. Seeing the bruises on his face her worst fears were confirmed. He smiled at her and everyone in the room disappeared then. He put his arms around her whispering reassurances as he kissed her. He held her tight as they walked out and she hardly took notice of anyone around her. There were two women sitting on a bench near the exit. _

"_We can call the guys," said one woman to the other with her. The other woman looked bedraggled and had her face so swollen it looked disfigured. Dania could not imagine what tragedy could have put her in that state. Her happy thoughts were derailed momentarily as she caught sight of the woman feeling pity for her plight._

"_No! You know how they get," the other woman said emphatically. Her voice was slightly distorted by the swelling around her lips. She looked up then and spotted the lovers. She stared at Dania with a look of astonishment and betrayal but that look soon disappeared and was replaced with a look of deep disappointment. Dania glared at the unknown woman annoyed by the way she was looking at her regretting that she had felt pity for her. She often got glares from people back home when she was out with Chris but she knew it was just their jealousy. Chris was everything a woman could dream of! She had the perfect life: A dream job, a prince for a boyfriend…what more could she want! She couldn't imagine why this unknown woman would look at her that way but before she could say anything Chris pulled her away.  
_

"_Come on honey…let's get out of here," Chris said softly to her pulling her away from the women on the bench. She looked up at Chris and the world once more disappeared as she looked up into her beloved's eyes…_

Jetta watched her old classmate weep after the video. Dani had once been a member of her little group of best friends and the group consisted of her, Emily, Tokio and Jetta. They had been inseparable! But Dani's crush on Tokio's good looking cousin Chris had always annoyed her. Jetta was the only one who had never quite trusted Chris; there always seemed to her something devious and insincere about his perfect smile. No one else had ever seen it until Chris showed his true colors and he and his family destroyed their friendship.

"That woman with her is the woman who kicked me out," Dani managed when her emotions were under control once more. Tokio was right under her nose and she had not seen her. Jetta nodded and explained to Dani that Victoria – aka: Tori – Scott was a good friend of Tokio.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Dani whined and she wept some more. Vaz was too disgusted with her to say anything else and he walked away. Jetta sighed disappointed by how pathetic her friend had turned out to be.

"How could I tell you anything? By the time Emily and I knew you were in town you were sucking face with that bastard!" Jetta countered angrily. Dani wept some more. She had gone looking for Tokio to see her friend whom she had not heard from since her parents died, but secretly also to see if her cute cousin was still as cute as he had been when they were kids.

"Ironic, Tokio had always said you were the boldest of us and you turned out to be the weakest," Jetta growled annoyed at Dani. With a disappointed sigh she reached for her phone and made a quick phone call. After a short conversation she looked at Dani.

"Ms. Stillwater has decided not to press charges for trespassing this time but she wants me to let you know that if she catches you anywhere near Tokio again she will press charges and add a restraining order," Jetta announced. Dani nodded tears still streaming down her face.

"Well, unemployed and soon to be homeless at least I won't add criminal to the list of things I am now," she joked bitterly. She had lost her job a few weeks ago and she had been handed an eviction notice by her new landlord about a week ago. Her boss had called her in to her office. She had been very nice and said she was a hard working girl but that she didn't have much talent and was costing the firm money. She explained that the only reason the marketing firm had hired Dani was because they were afraid of Chris and his family.

"Now you have a tiny taste of what Tokio went through the last 13 years," Jetta noted with an unsympathetic shrug. Dani wept but nodded. With Chris gone the firm she and Chris worked for finally had the freedom to properly grow their business and regain the good reputation they lost because of Chris and his family. Her boss was kind enough to give her the option of quitting rather than being fired so she wouldn't be blacklisted like Chris was. Grateful for the option of a dignified exit Dani put in her resignation effective immediately and left. Jetta finally got up and motioned for Dani to follow her.

"I'll give you a ride home," she said but the edge of anger had dulled considerably. Dani gratefully accepted and followed her quietly out of the precinct. They drove in silence through town and Dani was lost in her thoughts so it was a while before she realized that they were not heading straight for her apartment. She tried to ask where they were going but Jetta was in no mood for conversation. She finally parked the car just a little ways down from the Poppycock. It was a little café that Chris liked to bring her to on Sundays for brunch. She hid a pang of grief and shame that hit her as she remembered those romantic mornings blissfully oblivious to the monster her "prince" really was.

"Why are we here?" she asked as they sat in the car. Jetta didn't answer as she stared across the street to the restaurant. She looked around at what Jetta was staring at. A couple was exiting the posh little eatery and headed to a very shiny black town car. The couple kissed before the man opened the door for the woman. In the instant they broke apart from their kiss Dani recognized the woman: It was Tokio!

"She looks so much like her mom," Jetta commented nostalgically. Dani nodded, unable to make her mouth work. Two impulses battled for control: one impulse wanted to make her run to Tokio and hug her and beg for forgiveness while the other wanted to make her run away in shame. In the end she just sat there and watched.

"Look at her! What could you possibly say? What do you think she would say to you? But if you still wanna try now's your last chance. She's not ever coming back here," Jetta asked not taking her eyes off Tokio. This was the closest she had ever come to her friend in 13 years. She was having her own battle with the desire to get out of the car to hug her friend.

Dani spotted Emily walking past the car as Tokio entered it. Their old friend did not seem to recognize her because she didn't say anything as Emily passed by. The man with Tokio nodded curtly to Emily as she passed by as he headed to the driver's side. He scanned the street and spotted Jetta's car as he opened the driver's side door. He nodded solemnly to Jetta and Dani noticed her friend nod and give him a slight wave. He turned away and before Emily had managed to cross the street and reach them they were pulling out of their parking spot in front of the restaurant.

"She would call me a liar and a hypocrite and I would deserve it," Dani replied sadly. The car carrying Tokio and what was obviously her boyfriend stopped next to where their car was parked on the corner. Dani's heart raced with uncertainty, she wanted to see Tokio. She realized she could still race out of the car right now and catch them. She had a few precious seconds to decide. She took a deep breath and made her decision.

"Goodbye Tokio," she said softly. The traffic signal finally turned green and Tokio's car sped away taking her away from them forever. Emily jumped into the back seat of the car then wiping a tear from her face but smiling just the same. She made the same comment that Jetta had made about Tokio's looks.

"You should have seen them at the restaurant they are so cute together," Emily added cheerfully. Emily had gone in the restaurant on the pretense of buying a cup of coffee to spy on them a little. Her father had dropped her off to wait for Jetta.

"Well she's due for a little happiness. Did she recognize you?" Jetta asked as she started her car. Emily shook her head.

"I guess we've all changed a lot," Jetta commented with a shrug as she noted that Tokio hadn't recognized her either when they were at the stoplight. Dania watched them talk about how good Tokio looked, how happy she seemed and how beautiful she was likely to look on her wedding day. She realized that Tokio wasn't the only friend she had to let go of today.

"Thank you Jetta. I don't live far from here. If you don't mind I'm going to walk," Dani declared feeling at peace. She would follow Tokio's lead and start her life over. She took a deep cleansing breath and missed the conspiratorial smile Emily and Jetta gave each other.

"Sure, but before you go…read this," she said handing her a white envelope. Dania opened the envelope and took out the letter:

_Dear Emily and Jetta,_

_My fiancé explained to me all the things you have done for me and I wanted you to know how much I appreciate everything you have done and everything you are willing to continue to do for me. I will respect and trust your judgment and do as you need me to do. Though it saddens me deeply that our paths will not likely cross again; I will always remember our times together with love and joy and I am happy to report that those memories will never again be marred by the sad years that tore us apart. All that aside, if there is ever a time when you need me you know that all you have to do is call and I will be there. Take care of each other and above all be happy!_

_Your friend always,_

_Tokio_

_P.S: I know it might be too much to ask, but could you check up on Dani? Her world exploded when my friends exposed Chris. Only I know how strong a hold his lying tongue had on her and how easy it was for them to fool her and how alone she is now. I hope she will be brave and bold and deny the Peters the satisfaction of making her one more victim to their malice. I hope she can rise above her current crisis and start anew as I have. But please, if you can, look in on her and make sure she's ok. My memories of her will never be harmed by him and I hope her memories of me will not be marred by Chris either._

_Thank you again for everything. I wish all three of you the best!_

_Your friend Tokio_

"She was always so dramatic!" Dani exclaimed crying and laughing at the same time. Jetta and Emily laughed with her.

"Yea! A regular Anne of Green Gables! According to Hajime, that hasn't changed," Jetta added laughing. She explained that the note had been delivered to the precinct yesterday afternoon by someone from Oniwaban. Jetta had been fortunate that she was working late and was able to receive Tokio's note from her friend Sano directly. She went and showed it to Emily that very evening.

"Sorry we were rough on you but we had to make sure you wouldn't be a douche and get all defensive!" Emily remarked teasingly. Dani shook her head wiping tears from her face. Tokio had not only forgiven her but understood – without ever hearing a word from her – everything that was in her heart.

"Pffft! Speak for yourself! I enjoyed chewing her ass out and making her sweat!" Jetta laughed as she pulled her car into the street and drove towards Dani's apartment. Dani just laughed glad to not have burned the one bridge that was worth keeping. Her throat constricted with emotion as Emily and Jetta decided to come over and help her pack her things.

"Hey how about we stop for Chinese for lunch!" Emily suggested cheerfully.

"Yea I can go for some eggrolls!" Dani commented feeling surprisingly cheerful too. Jetta agreed easily as they headed to Dani's apartment.

"So what are you gonna do now?" Emily asked a little more seriously. Dani just shrugged. Her only alternative was to go back to her parents and try to find a job but she was no good at marketing so she had no idea what she was gonna do with an art major.

"You were never good at selling other peoples junk but you were always a really good artist! Remember those drawings you used to make of us? Our little Star Wars adventures that you used to draw?" Jetta laughed pointing out she had kept some of those drawings.

"Yea! Whatever happened to your dream of making comic books? You and Tokio were always into that totally geek stuff! And you were really good at it!" Emi added enthusiastically. She told her that her mother kept those old drawings Dani had made of her too.

"My mom has some of my old sketch books too," Dani added thoughtfully. Chris had talked her out of it saying that comic books were for kids and there was no future in it. Looking back on his arguments now she had no idea why she gave up on her dream.

"You know you're right. It was stupid to give up on it! I'm gonna go back to it! I think I have an idea of what my first project will be!" Dani replied enthusiastically. She wiped the last tears off her face and resolved to put her life back on the right track. She had her true friends back and that was all that mattered.

'Thanks Tokio,' she added to herself looking over her old friend's letter once more…

* * *

**-0-**

* * *

Norma arrived at her new home in Mexico just almost two months after that horrible party and she finally allowed herself to relax. It had been the most miserable weeks. The IRS had seized everything they owned within a few days and left her literally standing out on the street. Every so-called friend had slammed the door in her face. Norma understood of course, they were under a new master: Victoria Stillwater. They had no choice but to obey her every whim. Her husband's lawyer made a deal in record time with the prosecutors. He didn't even bother to try and fight the charges and Chris would now be spending the next two years in prison, with good behavior it would be a few months less.

'I wonder if there is a way for that idiot to stay in there permanently,' she thought annoyed as she put her small travel bag down on the table. She had been fortunate enough to make some provisions in case everything went wrong. Her father in law had always been against following Takako's plan. He had warned them that it might all be some big trap and that they needed to get as far away from the Takagi's as possible. And it was true; Tokio had no access to anything that could harm them or help them. Norma was clever enough to know that. But her idiot husband would hear none of it and her courageous but stubborn son just fell for everything Takako said to him.

'If only they'd listened to me!' She thought annoyed walking over to the door that led out to the patio. Her new mansion was located a few miles south of Puerto Vallarta inside a fairly new and very popular resort. Her property looked over the bay in which the resort was nestled in. It was a bright sunny morning and the breeze was cool and refreshing.

"If only that idiot girl had died with the rest of her family!" she grumbled to herself. She took a deep breath and releasing it she let go of that anger. She had taken many precautions to protect and hide her true investment.

"And it was worth it!" she said taking in the sea air. When her cousin Carmen had died it left her father as the next in line for the property but with the property in shambles after the fire it was almost worthless to local real estate agents. However, in the circles that Norma wandered in she was able to hear many things. One of them was of a friend of John's who was planning on doing some new timeshare developments in Mexico. The project could potentially be worth millions but he needed to find the right property.

'But I was the only one who knew that my stupid family was sitting right on the perfect property!' she laughed as she surveyed her new kingdom from a distance. Those men discussing their million dollar plans never worried about what she would hear and what she might use. To them she had just been a pretty little empty-headed thing that served them their coffee during meetings and giggled when they gave her jewelry and money while she sat on their laps. She used those trinkets and money and made herself a new identity in Mexico under which to purchase the property. And then very carefully and secretly she attached herself to those million dollar projects.

"I should call Chris and let him know I made it ok," she thought then quickly picking up her new cell phone. Her son was already in Australia. She was glad his father never abandoned the boy. He would be alright there and in time she would explain to him what she had done and that they were not destitute. She called to her servant to bring her up a drink and the girl quickly replied that she was on her way.

"Well not everything," she thought solemnly after she hung up her call with him. She sat walked back out to the patio and looked out again to her new home with satisfaction. She felt as high as kite now! She would be the queen here! She would start anew and free of her stupid husband. She stretched her arms up into the bright morning sky and laughed. She stood there for a few minutes surveying her kingdom but as the minutes ticked by she grew annoyed that the maid had not come up with her drink yet from the kitchen. She frowned annoyed.

'I better make sure all of them understand what it means to serve me! I am the queen!' she thought angrily as she made her way back inside the house to chew out her slow maid. She marched into the living room but stopped short as she saw who was sitting in a large armchair in her leaving room. Fear suddenly shocked every nerve in her body and her knees nearly gave way. A very strong and large hand caught her as her legs buckled and shoved her into a chair.

"Hello Norma," Victoria greeted with an elegant smile. Norma's mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. She had been sure she had escaped the clutches of the dragon!

"You know the men of our generation always made the mistake of assuming that because we were pretty and flirty we weren't smart. But you knew that of course. It's very obvious you took great advantage of that knowledge," Victoria in a calm elegant tone. She introduced the man with her as Nightraven then continued.

"Here's what I'm pretty sure happened: Carmen read the newspapers and had friends in the army still who traveled a lot and brought news…news of a growing new market called timeshares. She was a practical woman after all with none of the sentimental attachment that her father had with this property so selling very much appealed to her. Mexico was a popular destination for American and European travelers," she paused to collect her thoughts and let Norma sweat a little. "She thought she could sell her newly acquired beach front property for a lot of money and stick it to her nasty mother in law by becoming very rich on her own and getting her children away from Takako's ridiculous obsession with an old house," Victoria chuckled amused by Carmen's audacity.

"Sadly for Carmen, she underestimated you too and told you at some point prior to her leaving what she intended to do. Here is where the nasty wheels of your brain started whirring on overdrive. You couldn't allow Carmen to sell because then you wouldn't be able to put your plans into motion. So you scurried back to your old back alley haunts and looked for some of your old cronies. You hired a couple of ruffians to go to Mexico and burn down the house with everyone in it," Victoria paused to let the effect of her words sink in to Norma. Her mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.

"Here is where the monkey wrench comes in. Tokio gets left behind and you're stuck at home with no way to communicate to your ruffians that they needed to wait for Tokio to get there. They set your plan in motion and in the end you were stuck with Tokio and the trap her grandmother laid down to destroy all of you," Victoria paused to watch Norma and it looked like the woman was starting to get past her initial shock so she continued before Norma could completely recover.

"You graciously offered your translator services to Pete to go to Mexico with him. While he was distracted grieving the death of his friends you disappeared to call on your agents to buy the property now at next to nothing from your father – the only other heir according to your uncle's will – then you used those same agents to contact the men in Senator Peters' circle who wanted to invest. Lucky for you your ruffian cronies were killed in a bar fight somewhere on the border as they made their way back so you got away with murder, made millions and no one suspected a thing," Victoria concluded and watched Norma as she sat up straight finally. Her hands shook violently.

"Y-you h-have no proof!" she stammered out attempting to look defiant but failing miserably. Victoria chuckled and Nightraven laughed loudly.

"I don't need to! I have a much better punishment for you," Victoria declared getting up from her chair. To Norma's utter astonishment Victoria changed. Her body grew from a modest 5 feet 7 inches to what Norma judged to be close to seven feet! Her clothes changed in a strange way too. A black shiny liquid seemed to pour itself upwards from her toes and fingertips to her neck. When it became solid it was some kind of suit of armor like the kinds in the science fiction movies Daniali – Chris' ex – liked to watch.

"Y-y-y-you're not human!" Norma stammered fearfully. Victoria and her companion laughed.

"No, but you'll never have proof of it either," Victoria replied and in the blink of an eye she had crossed the room and was now leaning over Norma with her hands on the arm rests of her chair.

"Please don't kill me," Norma begged fearfully.

"Oh don't worry Norma. Your fate will be far worse," Victoria replied. Fear as she had never known gripped Norma then as Victoria's eyes glowed red and the alien burrowed painfully into her mind. Norma screamed…

* * *

Chris hurried up the drive in his mother's new house in Mexico. He had gotten the call that something had happened to his mother and hopped on the first plane he could get from Sydney. He was tired and jetlagged but the nightmare that Victoria and her cronies might've killed his mother kept him awake. His worst fear was that after all the sacrifices he had made he might have lost his mother in the end. There was a detective standing in the living room and Chris seized on him immediately. He was glad that his mother had taught him to speak Spanish.

"What happened?" he demanded fearfully. The detective shook his head perplexed.

"Physically speaking she is perfectly healthy. There is not a scratch on her," the detective began solemnly. He explained that when the maid returned from her errands she had found his mother in the main living room. She was curled on the floor screaming and crying in fear as though she was being attacked but there was no one in the house. She had been taken to the hospital and every test possible had been administered.

No poisons or drugs were found in Norma's body and no physical injuries of any kind were evident. The police had gone through every inch of the house but the only fingerprints they found were hers and those of the maid. The maid had been cleared quickly of any wrongdoing since she had ample witnesses that saw her at the market that morning. At the time of Norma's actual arrival at the house, the maid was at the bank bringing her daughter lunch and the security cameras confirmed she was there for more than 30 minutes and it took her another hour on the bus to return to the house.

"And as I said, there were no physical injuries and no signs of an attack in the house," the detective reiterated. Chris looked around and the house looked pristine. If something happened to frighten his mother to insanity it could not have been cleaned in two days. He told the detective that he had spoken to his mother on the day she arrived and she had sounded very relaxed and happy.

"I have to see her," he said as the detective finished the recap of the last two days. The detective nodded and led him back into the room. He explained she had been lightly sedated but she was awake and calm enough to see him.

"I imagine it might do her some good. The doctor has been with her since she was brought back from the hospital," he added as he opened the door of the master bedroom for Chris. Chris nodded and thanked him. The detective added that the doctor thought that she might be having some sort of nervous breakdown and recommended plenty of rest. Chris nodded numbly his mind raging with indignation and he hated his father for putting them all in this horrible position. Chris entered heading towards the bed where an old woman was tucking his mother in trying to make her comfortable. The doctor was putting his stethoscope away by the dresser.

"Mom?" he greeted softly hurrying to his mother's side and taking her hand in his. Norma slowly turned and looked up at him with tired eyes. She smiled at first but then her eyes went wide and that was the only warning he got. She screamed! She screamed and screamed tears streaming down her face. She curled up into a ball and started begging for him to stop.

"Stop? Stop what? Mom! Mom!" he called desperately. The doctor rushed to her and this time he was forced to give her enough medicine to knock her out. Chris stood aside confused and scared. His celphone rang and he reached into his pocket. He had kept his old phone in hopes that Dani might give him another chance but she did not answer any of his text messages, voicemails or emails. He had tried to keep up his hopes by reminding himself that she had not gotten rid of her phone either. As the days turned into weeks he started to feel that he had completely lost her. He looked at the caller id and his hopes bubbled up again. It was her number on the tiny screen!

"Dani!? I needed so much to hear your voice!" he exclaimed joy choking his voice for a moment.

"_Well it's so nice to hear your voice too Mr. Peters_," said a chillingly familiar voice. "_How is your mother doing?_" the voice asked mockingly. He took the phone from his ear to check the number again but there was no mistake.

"You! You did something to my mother! Where is Dani? You better not have her too!" he demanded angrily. The detective now looked up from where the doctor was struggling with a screaming Norma and looked at Chris with suspicion.

"I _did absolutely nothing and as for Ms. Sartori she's doing very well and she gifted this phone to me as a thank you for not letting her fall into the pit you and your family dug yourselves,_" Victoria retorted haughtily and laughed. His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. His beloved Dani had betrayed him and his mother to Victoria. He knew she was angry and he understood she had a right to be but he never imagined she would turn on him like this. It ripped what was left of his heart to atoms!

"_Now you know how your innocent orphaned cousin felt the first time you laid your filthy hands on her_," Victoria growled at him. He was speechless for a moment amazed and horrified that Victoria had just guessed how he was feeling.

"_I would say that she sends her regards but I would be lying. She didn't even care why I wanted it. She just handed it over with her gratitude and a touch of relief I must say,_" Victoria chuckled amused. Despite the heat he felt cold. The detective had been called away from the room but Chris did not notice when or how.

"You did something! I know you did! You'll pay for it!" Chris growled at her. But he knew his threat was empty. There was nothing he could do to her. She had complete control over his grandfather and any retaliation he might attempt would harm the old man or do further damage to his mother. As she laughed he realized she knew it too.

"_Your mother will likely spend the rest of her life living the nightmare she inflicted upon an innocent child out of greed and envy,_" Victoria continued in an amused tone that made his blood boil.

"I hate you," he growled at her but Victoria just laughed.

"_Well, at least now when you tell people you have an insane relative it won't be a lie!_" she said and she laughed heartily. She ended the call but even as Chris put the phone away he could still hear her laughter. He knew that mocking tone would haunt him for the rest of his days. The detective called him out to the living room. His grandfather had sent a lawyer out to check up on him and his mother. His grandfather called him and advised him to leave that place. He could get her into a nice institution but he needed to get away from his mother's transactions immediately. They had been done illegally and there were already officers going out to investigate from the US.

'How can this be happening?' Chris asked himself as he numbly explained to his grandfather what was happening to his mother. His grandfather reassured him again that he had made arrangements to bring her to a nice institution back home but he needed to get away from there right now!

"You might appeal to your grandfather and he might not levee fraud charges on her when he finds out what's happened to her," he explained. Norma's father had requested an investigation on how Norma had acquired his family's land. Chris agreed to go back with him. As he watched his mother being wheeled out of the room and into an ambulance he realized he couldn't leave it like that. He had to try to help her and there was only one person in the world with the expertise to do it.

'If she won't help me I'll make her,' he thought resolutely as he walked out and climbed into the town car with his grandfather's lawyer…

* * *

-0-

* * *

Ok, so that's it for now. Still trying to get the next Harry Potter/Buffy chapter going but I'm a little stalled by an overload of plot-bunnies. I'll hopefully get everything sorted out soon! Thanks for reading and reviewing.


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